The Last Time
by missinhalf
Summary: SasuSaku. Inspired by Taylor Swift's 'The Last Time' ft. Gary Lightbody. Post-699, Pre-700. He promises that each departure would be his last, but it never is.
1. The Last Time

Sakura watches the dark-grey clouds maneuver their way across the sky, hindering the sunlight and it's warmth to pass through. A cool breeze tousles her pastel pink hair, obscuring her vision. She waits for the breeze to die down before reaching up a hand to tuck her hair behind her ears. She finds herself, almost daily, on her balcony watching the citizens of Konoha that passes by. But mostly she watches the sky.

There is something enchanting about the sky that always draws her vibrant green eyes to it. It must be the mesmerizing colours the sky is streaked with at sunrise and sunset; or the way, at night, the stars decorate it to produce captivating constellations. Mostly, it's because they are under the same sky.

Another cool breeze dances over her smooth ivory arms causing goosebumps to form. She hugs herself, rubbing her arms for warmth as she heads inside. Locking the balcony door behind her, she walks over to her desk, staring down at the scattered medical scrolls and textbooks from her research.

As she starts to straighten up her materials she hears a faint knock at her front door. She sighs as she leaves her tidying unfinished, and heads towards the door. Not bothering to look who it is, she swings open the door as she comes face to face with the last individual she expects to see.

* * *

Sasuke heads towards the front gates of Konoha, to continue his journey after his meeting with Kakashi. It's been two years since he started his journey of redemption and within those two years he has only visited the village seven times.

He glances towards the sky watching as the storm sets up. A cool breeze brushes past him blowing his dark cloak in the same direction. Strands of pink catches his attention, as it flutters around her head. He watches as the breeze ends how she tames her hair behind her ears.

He hadn't expected his feet to take him to Sakura's apartment. He assumes it's due to a habit he's formed when she offered for him to stay by her apartment whenever he was in Konoha.

He ascends the stairs and finds her door. Standing before it, he contemplates if he should knock. He doesn't plan to stay as he intends to leave today. He has been in the village for a day, staying at Naruto's since he arrived late last night and he did not want to disturb her. But he doesn't want Naruto to tell her he had been in the village and left without as much as saying bye to her, so he holds his knuckle against her door and knocks. He could hear her footsteps getting louder, from behind the door, as she approaches and almost as soon as her footsteps stop, the door swings open and he is met with a shocked emerald eyes.

Sakura hadn't expected to see him standing in front of her door as she was told, by Kakashi, that he would be back in the village in a month's time.

"Welcome back, Sasuke," she chimes, replacing her shocked expression with a playful smile. "Kakashi never told me you would be back in the village today."

She steps aside so he could enter, but he doesn't move forward.

"I'm not staying, Sakura," he explains.

He watches as his words causes her smile to slowly falter. She, instead, replaces it with her infamous fake smile she always seems to display whenever he's about to leave. He hates himself for causing her to wear such a smile; for causing her such pain each time he leaves, not knowing when will be the last time she has to display such a smile.

"Do you know when you'll be back?" she mutters, turning her glance towards the ground.

He notes that she's upset as she shifts she takes her emerald eyes off him and onto the welcome mat he is standing on.

"I don't know when I'll be back, but this is definitely the last time I leave. I'll see you when I'm back," he says as a smirk graces his face.

Hoping to see her smile before he leaves, he raises his index and middle finger to poke her forehead like he always does, but before his fingers could connect with her forehead, she takes a step back.

"No. Stop, Sasuke. Stop it with the forehead pokes and your promises," she says, fighting back tears. But one betrays her as it glides down her rosy cheek. She quickly tries to wipe it off hoping he didn't notice, but he does.

"Sakura," he sighs, "you've got it all wrong. These are not empty promises, I do see you every time I'm back-"

"No," she abruptly cuts him off, "not that."

She meets his mismatch eyes which are filled with confusion.

"About it being the last time," she clarifies. "I'm tired of you saying it'd be the last time when there never really is a last time is there, Sasuke," she bluntly states, not bothering to ask him because they both know it's true. She leans her slender body against the door for support. "I guess you're right Sasuke. This_ is _the last time… I'll let you in. I'm tired of waiting and waiting, hoping that you'll return for good. It's too painful for me," she mutters below her breathe. "I- I just can't take this kind of suffering, each time you leave."

She turns her head to the left and drops her glance and watches the passersby as they quicken their gait in hopes of making it home before it starts to rain. She can feel more tears struggling to escape, but she manages to keep them at bay.

"Okay, I understand," he declares, stepping back and turning his side towards her. "This is the last time, Sakura. I wouldn't hurt you anymore." He turns his head towards her and with remorse bids her farewell. He drops his mismatch eyes to the ground, turns his head and leaves.

* * *

He regrets walking away from her. Every step he takes, pains him knowing he's breaking her heart. It's like a habit for him, to break the heart of the one girl who loves him so unconditionally; to the one girl he truly cares about. But he has to go and complete his journey. If he stays, he knows Sakura would blame herself for taking that away from him. He'll see her when he's back for good, he decides. When he could finally put her first and make everything better.

She watches him leave. She sees the apologetic expression in his eyes and the way he faces away from her to say his final good bye. She clenches the door as he walks away. Shutting the door, she falls to her knees sobbing uncontrollably in her hands just as the clouds opens up to soak the ground.

**A/N: **any feedback/creative criticism you may have is greatly appreciated. Let me know what you think!


	2. Wildest Dreams

It's been three days since he broke her heart and left; three days since she has been living in a nightmare. But it's not a nightmare she's living in, it's reality.

Every time she closes her eyes, she can still see his apologetic expression reflecting off his onyx eyes. She can still hear the faint echoes of his farewell. She can still feel her heart shattering,when there is nothing left to break.

Every day she plasters a fake smile on her face, hoping that no one notices, and no one does. She doesn't bother covering her dark eye bags because she can easily pass them off as all-nighters from her research. No one notices the way she stiffens when he's mentioned or the way she subtly tries to change the topic.

* * *

"So why do you need a new bed again," Ino asks as she gingerly trails her fingers over one of the many mattresses in the store. "What's wrong with your old one?"

_It reminds me of him._

"It creaks whenever I move on it," she lies as she grips her purse strap with her chipped green polished fingers.

"Did you and Sasuke break the bed?" Ino cheerfully chuckles, sitting on the mattress. "There's nothing to be ashamed of, Forehead. Not as if I don't know what going on between you guys behind closed doors," she informs her pinkette friend, waggling her eyebrows suggestively.

Flashbacks come flooding in at Ino's words. Their clothes in a scattered mess on her bedroom floor. His calloused hands in her silky pastel pink hair. His hooded eyes roaming over her toned body. Their legs tangled on her red sheets. His voice is a familiar sound when he moans her name against the pulse of her neck.

_Nothing lasts forever._

"No, Ino-Pig," she retorts defensively, clenching and unclenching her purse strap with her chipped painted fingers. "Besides there's nothing going on between us."_Anymore._

In a desperate attempt to shift the topic, she hastily calls over an employee and purchases the mattress Ino is sitting upon.

* * *

"Damn it," Sakura ponders, as she and Ino makes their way through the buzzing streets of Konoha, "I'll have to sleep on the couch until the mattress arrives."

Above them, the honeycomb yellow sun shines down on them, with not a single cloud in the sky. Though the storm had passed a day ago, there are still a few puddles lingering, refusing to evaporate, just like her tears that still demand to fall. She lifts her head to the sky, closing her eyes. She absorbs the warmth of the sun that's beating down on her pale skin.

_As long as we're under the same sky._

She slowly drops her head down and opens her eyes. She clenches and unclenches her purse strap as she stares at the ground as she remembers when he first visited the village.

* * *

Five months after this initial departure, he returns to the village for a visit. After seeing his blonde best friend and former teacher, he searches for her. He eventually finds her at the bridge where Kakashi informed Team Seven that he nominated them for the Chunin Selection Exams.

Her back was to him as she watches the sunset. As the sun slowly descends into the horizon, the sky is decorated with mesmerizing hues or orange, pink and purple. A gentle breeze blows past them causing her dress to hug her legs and his cloak to blow in the same direction as the wind.

"Sakura."

Her green eyes widen as she recognizes his familiar voice. She slowly turns around and sees him, standing on the opposite side of the bridge.

"Sasuke?" she mutters.

Her eyes take in his appearance and she didn't think it was possible for him to become more handsome. He's grown taller since the last time she's seen him and his jet black hair falls to his shoulders. He wears navy blue bandages around his forehead which keeps his naturally spiked hair down. A tattered poncho is worn over his black high collared shirt.

He makes his way towards her, keeping his onyx eyes locked with hers. He stops when he arm's length away from her. He notices her red lips and rosy cheeks and how they contrast with her vibrant green eyes.

"Are you back?" she calmly asks. Her eyes don't leave his as they search for an answer. "Back for good?"

He holds her stare until the corner of his lip curves into a smirk. He closes the distance between them in one swift step and presses his lips against hers.

_This is getting good now._

* * *

"Hey, Forehead?," Ino asks , pulling Sakura out of her reminiscing.

Sakura blinks and turns her head towards her blonde friend whom is wearing a worried expression.

"Are you okay? You seem kinda out of it. Ou, I know, let's head back to your place and I'll make you some tea," she proposes with a smile.

Sakura fakes a smile and nods as they head towards her apartment.

_Someday when you leave me, I bet these memories follow you around._

* * *

They climb the stairs to her apartment. On the walk over, Ino was gushing about Sai and sharing details about their dates that Sakura was only half listening to. Her mind is elsewhere as she desperately tries to push thoughts of him out, but to no avail.

_Say you'll remember me._

At her door, Sakura produces her keys from her purse and opens the door. As she was about to step inside, Ino shoves her aside and sprints towards Sakura's bedroom. Puzzled, she draws her eyebrows together thinking why Ino would push her aside and run to her bedroom. But realization dawns upon her as eyes widen as she understands why Ino suggested going to her apartment.

Sakura approaches her bedroom, standing at the threshold, her eyes filled with sorrow. She stares at Ino who has crossed both her legs and arms as she sits upon her bed, demanding an answer. Her bed which was neatly made now reflects the aftermath of Ino rolling around on it to see if Sakura was telling the truth.

"What the hell, Forehead?! I knew something was off about you. I've known you since we were kids and do you honestly think you can fool with me all these fake smiles and wouldn't notice? Plus, you may not have noticed, but you always clench and unclench your hands whenever you're in a situation you don't want to be in," Ino bluntly admits. "I know this has to do with Sasuke, Sakura, and if you don't tell me what happened, I can't help you," she adds.

Sakura could feel her tears welling up in her eyes, but she doesn't look away from Ino. Ino's stern baby blues meet with glassy green eyes until her stern expression softens into realization. Ino jumps off the bed and pulls Sakura into her embrace just as she breaks down into tears.

_Even if it's just in your wildest dreams._

_**A/N:**_When I wrote the first chapter I had 'The Last Time' stuck in my head for a couple of days. Let's see how long I'll get 'Wildest Dreams' stuck in my head for


	3. This Love

"So, how was your hot date last night," Ino teases with a wink as she places her coffee cup on the table after she took a sip.

Sakura rolls her jade eyes and grips her cup of tea tighter in her grasp.

"I don't know, Ino-Pig," Sakura admits, staring at her tea as if it holds all the answers she needs.

"What do you mean, you 'don't know'" Ino exclaims, throwing her arms up into the air with frustration. "Please don't tell me you set him up?!"

"Oh my god, Ino! Shh, be quiet. Everyone can hear you," Sakura quickly blurts looking around to make sure they aren't putting on a show for anyone.

The small café they are currently occupying was bustling with people, but even so it was still fairly quiet. With her quick scan complete and with the results showing that she didn't draw in any unwanted attention, she turns her attention back to the irritated blonde.

"Don't tell me to 'shh,' Forehead. Did you or did you not set him up?" She taps her index finger against the side of her cup of coffee, clearly running out with patience with her best friend.

"No, I didn't set him up," she calmly confesses with a sigh. She raises her cup of tea to her lips and takes a sip before continuing. "But I kind of left soon after we met up."

"How soon," Ino presses on, narrowing her clear blue eyes.

"Like couple of minutes after we met," she said placing her tea back on the table and staring at her best friend with a look of hopelessness. "Ino, I really do appreciate you trying to help me move on, but I don't think the best way for me to do that is to find a rebound. I left that soon because I didn't want to struggle through the night knowing that I don't hold any feelings for him," she said before staring back into her tea. "When I first meet up with him, it was fine, but then my mind kept flickering back to _him,_" she confesses with a sigh.

She pauses, either for Ino to soak up what she was feeling or for her to understand what she herself was feeling, she wasn't too sure.

She looks up from her tea and shifts her attention to the large window directly behind Ino. The radiant sun is shining and if it wasn't for the building directly in front of the café they were in, the sun would be attacking her fair ivory face.

"Even though he's gone, I still miss him dearly," she mutters turning her attention briefly to Ino before dropping her glance to her tea.

It's been six months since Sasuke left and Ino had tried relentlessly to help Sakura forget about him. After many blind dates and girls night out (and in), Sakura can happily say she is thankful for Ino, even though she can be a pain sometimes. Ino was right beside her, to wipe her tears and be her shoulder to cry on. She was there to watch and guide her as she picked up the pieces of her shattered heart and slowly pieced it back together. Though it may not be completely fixed, she knew that with time it will be, but if only she could somehow shake the thoughts of _him_ from her mind.

"I'm sorry, Sakura."

Sakura shoots her green eyes towards Ino with shock, wondering why she was apologizing. She is met with apologetic eyes which was what Sakura was so used to seeing during the first month he left, as if she was apologizing for what he reduced her to.

"I shouldn't have pushed you so much with all these random guys, but I really want to see you happy," she confesses with a sad smile. "But I now realize that that love that you two share… it was special. It's been half a year, and the fact that you still think about him, it doesn't show that you're weak; oh hell, Sakura, you're far from weak. You're one of the strongest people I know, but the fact you still think about him shows how strong that love is."

"W-what do you mean, Ino? I don't-"

"Stop trying to deny it," she said cutting her off in what was going to be an obvious lie. "I know you still love him and I understand now. I should let you go at your own pace, because the love you two shared isn't something that can just break so easily. You can't rebound off something like that so fast and I was, I guess, naïve if I thought I could help you forget him so fast."

Ino takes her hands off her warm coffee cup and stretches them towards Sakura. She stares at her hands in bewilderment before she understands her familiar gesture and places her hands in hers.

"Sakura, I want you to know that I care about you. You are my best friend, and I know you want to forget about him, I know you're trying so hard to, but as you said your mind keeps flickering back to him. He left a permanent mark on you. But can you honestly tell me that if he shows up right now, asking for you back, admitting to his mistakes, you wouldn't take him back?"

Ino's sudden confess catches Sakura off guard. Her heart is beating rapidly in her chest from hearing what Ino thought of their love. Sakura knows Ino asked for her hands, because she thought she was going to tear up, but she's stronger now and wouldn't be reduced to tears that easily anymore.

They are quiet for a while as they held hands. Sakura stared at their intertwined fingers and smiled a soft sad smile. She raises her glance and focuses on Ino's worried expression.

"You know, I kept picturing that… him coming back, back to me, and every time I would run into his arms with no hesitation, because his arms are home. He is home and I'm his. I was his, I guess," she looks at their hands for courage and back into Ino's eyes to continue before she starts giggling.

Ino releases her hold on Sakura's hands and crosses them on the table leaning on them as she looks on at Sakura with pure confusion. After the question she asked, the last thing she thought Sakura would do was laugh.

"He's not going to come back to me, Ino-Pig," she explains placing her head on the table to laugh some more. When her laughs finally died down, she slowly raises her head and keeps her glance on Ino's crossed arms. "Plus this is a 'what-if' question and let me tell you this, Sasuke Uchiha is not the type of man to do something like that. He's the one who walked away from me, so why exactly would he come back?"

Ino leans back in her seat and brings her coffee to her lips finishing it off before placing the empty cup on the table.

"Let me tell you this, Forehead. You guys are young, and after everything you've told me, after everything you've been through, you've got to stop thinking of that love so lowly. He needs to finish his redemption journey after everything he's been through and done," she said with a stern expression. "But I think he's going to come back to what he needs, and that's you, Sakura," she stands up from her seat and places her purse on her shoulder, her expression softening. "Like what you said, he's home and you're his."

* * *

She walks home alone after parting ways with Ino after their coffee date with Ino's words radiating throughout her.

"Would I take him back?" she ponders which causes her to envision multiple scenarios in her head, all from her running into his arms with tears of happiness streaming down her face to her turning her back to him, walking away.

With the heat from the day slowly retreating and she decides to take a detour before heading home. She decides to go the bridge, the bridge where she had her first kiss with Sasuke, the bridge where she finally felt the meaning of his words. She smiles a nostalgia smile as she places her arms against the bridge railing and leans against it.

She starts to recall his kisses and smile and how when he left she was reduced to a mere ghost of herself. She remembers watching him leave and falling to her knees to grieve for the love he threw away. It was only in her wildest dreams where he would come back to her, fixing everything he's broke. But she knows better. He can't fix her, only she can do that.

"Sakura."

She gasps. She feels her blood running cold even though her heart is beating rapidly in her chest.

"No, no, no, I'm only hearing things," she chants in her head, but she knows the footsteps she hears approaching her isn't fake. She doesn't dare turn around to face the familiar voice.

He repeats her name and her body betrays her as she slowly turns around to face him and she can feel her heart shatter yet again when he smiles the smile she loves so much. All her time wasted, easily undone by a simple smile. She curses herself for being weak, but Ino's words echoes throughout her mind about their strong love and the permanent mark he left.

_When you're young you just run, but you come back to what you need._

"No," she whispers, breathlessly. "No, you can't do this."

He's taken aback by her sudden words, but he still takes a step towards her and she takes one back.

"Stop, don't come closer," she manages to say. Her eyes are widen with fear and shock either from how Ino somehow predicted this moment or from him.

"Sakura, I'm-"

"I said stop!" she screams. She stares intimidatingly at him, but he's unmoved by this.

He takes another persistent step forward raising a hand to caress her cheek, but she slaps it away and quickly places distance between them.

"You can't do this to me, Sasuke," she can feel her tears threatening to fall, but she wouldn't allow them to. She's spilled enough tears over him. "Just-just leave me alone." It takes everything in her to turn around and walk away from him.

"Sakura, please jut hear me out" he pleads, stepping towards her and grabbing her arm, but she quickly pulls it back and turns around to face him, fury reflecting off her emerald eyes.

"Do you honestly think I'll let you do this to me again?! She hisses avoid eye contact. "You saw what you were doing to me and you allowed it. You kept feeding me these empty promises, making me believe you, making me fall harder and harder for you every day. God damn it, Sasuke, it's been six month. _Six. _And I've never heard anything from you. There's nothing you can say or do that can fix this. _Nothing_."

With that she turns around and walks away trying desperately to keep her head held high and not to turn around to run into his arms to recreate her wildest dreams.

This time it's him that watches her leave.

_These hands had to let it go free, and this love came back to me._

** A/N: **This is last song post for this series, but you if you have a certain song you'll like me to write please tell me LOL who likes my plot twist ;) bet no one was expecting that. Please review!


	4. Forced Roommates

"No. No! NO!" she screams throwing her slender arms up into the air with anger. "There is _no way _he is staying at my place."

The Sixth Hokage crosses his arms on his paper covered desk and lets out a sigh. He takes in her dark eye bags from her lack of sleep last night and her abrupt disapproval from his request and concludes that his two former students had not yet made up.

"Hmm, I'll take it that you two still aren't on talking terms?" he causally says, stating the obvious.

"W-what?" Her stance stiffens as he caught her off guard.

* * *

"It's no secret that something happened the last time Sasuke left," he says as he uncrosses his arms and leans back in his chair. "The last six months since he's been gone you have been acting differently. You weren't yourself and anyone could tell that something must have happened between you two. He's back now, that I know you already know, and you're refusing to let him stay at your apartment when I've been told he's been staying there whenever he visits. So I don't understand the problem if he stays by your place for two months until his accounts get unfrozen."

Sakura stands there dumbfounded, unsure of how to answer. She doesn't want to tell the silver haired man what happened between Sasuke and her just for Kakashi to drop his request and she can't possibly let him back in her apartment, or life, that easily after everything he's done to her. She was the one who walked away from him last night. She was the one who told him to leave her alone, and she was the one who said that this was the last time she'll let him in and she doesn't want to go back on her word.

"Why can't he stay with Sai or Naruto?"

"I'm pretty sure you already know the answer to that."

She makes a face of disgust as she recalls Naruto's unlivable apartment, littered with empty ramen bowls and dirty laundry and Sai's inability to understand emotions.

"Yes… but-"

She stops mid sentence when the door to Kakashi's office opens. She turns her head towards the door and finds Sasuke standing there with his mismatched eyes wide from shock from seeing her there.

"Ah, Sasuke, nice of you to join us," Kakashi greets.

Sasuke doesn't say anything until Sakura breaks eye contact and looks back at the Hokage.

"Why did you call me here," he bluntly asks as he enters his large office, shutting the door behind him.

"I called you here to tell you that Sakura has willingly agreed to let you stay at her apartment until everything is smoothed over," he announces with what one could only assume was a grin by the way his eyes formed crow's feet in the outer corners.

Sasuke's taken aback by what Kakashi just told him. "Why would she agree to that," he ponders, "she's the one who told me to leave her alone." But when he looks at her and sees her horrified expression he knows that she never agreed to it.

"It's okay, I'll just stay with Naruto," he informs Kakashi, but mostly directing it to Sakura to let her feel more at ease.

"No," she interjects, speaking for the first time since he's entered the room. "It's alright, you'll stay with me until everything is sorted out."

She doesn't look at him, or at Kakashi as she swiftly makes her way across the room towards the door with her head held high.

* * *

"He's what?!" Ino shrieks in the hospital's cafeteria, her mouth full from a bite she took out of her apple which muffled her words.

"He's going to stay with me for a while until everything is sorted out with his accounts and stuff," Sakura repeats taking a bite out of her bun.

"Why would you agree to that?! Are you insane?!"

"Because, his only other options was to stay with Naruto or Sai and we both know that wouldn't end well," she says breaking off a piece of her bun with her thumb and index finger. "No offense to Sai of course," she quickly adds, not wanting to offend her boyfriend. "And I am perfectly sane, thank you very much." She throws the piece of bun into her mouth and chews on it watching Ino's face deepen with anger.

"Ugh! This is so frustrating! First he shows up out of nowhere, last night, trying to explain himself and now the Hokage dumps him on you after you want nothing to do with him anymore." Ino's bright, blue eyes widen with realization. "Oh my god, Forehead. You don't think the Hokage is doing this on purpose for you guys to make up?"

Sakura pauses mid bite after Ino proposes her suggestion and lowers her bun from her mouth.

"He did say he knew something happened between me and Sasuke before he left. He even said how I was acting differently."

"Well there's no lie there, you weren't quite being yourself. Maybe you should go back and tell him that you'll get along again with Sasuke?"

"I don't think that that's going to work because I don't think he's punishing me for not getting along with Sasuke. I think he actually needs a place to stay," she informs her best friend.

"When's he moving in," she asks taking another bite out of her apple.

"Today. I already gave him my spare key, but I doubt he has much stuff to actually move in."

Ino tenderly places her hand on top of Sakura's. Surprised, Sakura looks at Ino and sees her eyes reflecting that of sadness.

"Be strong, Sakura. I know you're trying to be brave when deep down inside it's killing you. It's just going to be for a while and then he'll be gone and living somewhere else."

Sakura squeezes Ino's hand, gives her a reassuring smile and giggles.

"Don't worry about me, Ino-pig. I'll be fine."

She stands up from her chair and pushes it towards the table. "I've got to get back to work. I'll see you later," she announces as she picks up almost finished bun from the table, waves and heads for the exit.

Ino's eyes follows Sakura as she makes her way to the exit. "It's only when you say 'don't worry,' that I worry," she mutters under her breath.

* * *

After receiving a comforting hug from Ino, on their way home from work, they part to go their separate ways.

Sakura exhales all the stress and struggles from her day. The temperature as fallen quite low making her able to see her breath. She turns her glance up at the night sky, watching the twinkling star decorate the majestic, black sky with its countless constellations. She is mesmerized by them and stares at them in awe as if it's the first time she's seen them.

But it is the first time she's seen them in a while. Since Sasuke left, she's barely risen her head towards the sky. The meaning behind it pained her greatly.

_As long as we're under the same sky._

"Looks like we're going to be under the same roof too."

* * *

Sakura takes a deep breath before inserting her key in her door. She turns the key, hearing the familiar gears turn, pulls out her key and opens the door.

Her dark apartment greets her, but she dismisses it that Sasuke is probably just sleeping. She sighs with relief knowing she doesn't have to deal with an awkward conversation.

After their surprise meeting last night, she still doesn't know how to face him. She doesn't want to look into his eyes, those mismatch eyes that she grew to love. She doesn't want to fall victim to his words again, his words that kept her going for years on end.

She quietly slips off her shoes and makes her way across the hardwood floor. She glances down towards the couch, expecting to find Sasuke fast asleep on it, but it's empty.

She quickly scans the room and finds that there are no signs of him even entering her apartment. His bags are nowhere to be seen, there isn't any dishes in the sink or any new ones accompanying her cup in the dish tray that she used that morning for tea.

She gasps when she realizes where he may be. She recalls his first few visits and how he would always sleep on her couch. But when she finally understood that he shared mutual feelings with her he no longer occupied the couch, but her bed.

"He better not be in there," she hisses under her breath, storming off in the direction of her bedroom.

She doesn't see her bedroom light illuminating from under the crack in her door so she assumes, yet again, that he is asleep.

She throws open her bedroom door and flicks on her light switch not caring that he maybe he sleeping, because he shouldn't have disrespected her and entered her room in the first place.

But he hadn't. Instead she finds her bed empty expect for the small flower that occupies it. She slowly walks over to her bed and picks up the single daffodil.

She can feel her heart paining from the sudden nostalgia from her genin days.

She remembers the exact day and purpose she picked this flower for him. To her, he was the daffodil flower.

_Even during winter it keeps its beauty, never losing to the cold. A strong flower that waits for the hope of spring. With the thoughts of "please recover and get out of the hospital as soon as possible."_

She longed to be his spring during his harsh winters he had to endure, and she had been. In the end, he always came back to her. She never lost faith in him after his first 'Thank you.' She held on to those two words knowing she had a special place in his heart. After everything they've been through those two words kept her strong. She thought his words always held the truth, but she had thought wrong. The last time was never really the last time when it came to him.

This flower in her hand symbolizes something else.

_Faith. Honesty. Truth. Forgiveness. New beginnings._

She muses which one it stands for, what was going through Sasuke's head when he placed it on her bed and what it meant to him.

She stares longingly at the small, white flower in her hand before she places it on her desk to get ready for bed.

* * *

The sound of her alarm clock beeping wakes her up. Groaning, she turns over and takes off her alarm. She lazily rolls out of her warm bed and slips her feet into her cotton pink slippers. She throws on her cozy, red robe, ties it around her slim waist and heads towards the kitchen.

She cautiously glances towards the couch and finds it empty. The only signs that it shows that it was slept on was the pillow and blanket, she had set out for him before she went to bed, neatly folded with the pillow sitting on top.

"He must have come in when I was fast asleep. Probably to avoid me," she concludes.

She enters the kitchen and automatically pauses when she sees a familiar small, white flower sitting on her kitchen table.

A daffodil.

_tbc_


	5. Nightmare

The day takes its sweet time going by. Sakura has been in her office for the past two hours and she could have sworn it felt more like five has passed. Scattered paperwork covers the surface of her desk. She told herself yesterday she would tidy tomorrow, and tomorrow is present and her desk still looks like a tornado had swept across it.

Her mind has been focused elsewhere from work. It travels between the daffodils she found in her apartment to Sasuke. She wonders why he left them for her, certain that he was only doing it to torture her. Her lips form into a half smile she seems to be wearing more frequently as an accessory to her daily appearance as she agrees that his torturous intents were working.

She doesn't tell Ino how her heart clenched when she saw the flower, sitting on her kitchen table as if it was taunting her. She doesn't tell Ino that she shed a tear at the sight of the second daffodil she found. She doesn't tell Ino how she feels herself caving into her selfish need to go back to him. She doesn't tell Ino how much she wants to tell him how her love for him never died and how badly she wants to be wrapped in his strong arms. So instead when Ino asks how last night was, Sakura lies and tells Ino it was fine, despite the fact she received two daffodils from him and he was avoiding her; it was fine.

Ino knows that it is not fine. She can see the longing in Sakura's eyes. She can hear the love she still holds for Sasuke in her voice and she can see how much pain and destruction she has dealt to herself when she lies to herself, and to everyone when she tells them that Sasuke Uchiha no longer holds a special place in her heart. Ino knows better. She knows that Sasuke Uchiha does hold a special place in her heart. In fact, Sasuke Uchiha holds her whole heart. She knows that her dear friend has given her heart to him and she knows that he has given his heart to her. Sakura told Ino how he gave it back and how he took his back the moment he left her, but Ino now knows that Sasuke never took back his heart, and he never gave Sakura back her heart either. They still hold one another's heart, and they don't know it.

The daffodils were a clear symbol as to what Sasuke meant when he left them on her bed and in her kitchen and she's surprised that Sakura is still debating what they mean. Even if she tells Sakura what they mean, she knows she wouldn't believe her because she's just so stubborn, but taking a chance, she tells her.

"You know, Forehead. It's exactly what you said. To me, those daffodils don't hold the same meaning they held when we were genin. They mean: honesty, truth, forgiveness and new beginnings. Can't you see Sakura, Sasuke has never stopped loving you and neither have you! So stop playing hard to get, and go back to him," she tells her slamming her hands onto her still messy desk, using it to support her weight as she leans towards Sakura.

"I don't understand, Ino. Why are you telling me to go back to him when just yesterday you were giving me excuses to get him out of my apartment?!" She throws her arms up into the air with frustration, having a mini stare down with Ino.

Ino is the first to break their unofficial staring competition, by rolling her eyes, which prompts Sakura to smirk, crowning her the winner. "I never told you yesterday not to go back to him. In fact, I have never told you not to go back to him. Ever. If I did that was probably closer to the time he left you into a broken mess."

"Oh, so now that I'm not a broken mess you want to see me get broken again? Is that what you really want, Ino," Sakura yells at her best friend, her voice laced with poison.

"I never said that, Forehead," she growls trying not to raise her voice. She places more of her weight onto her arms as she leans in more closer towards Sakura that they were almost nose to nose with one another. "Since you seem to have left your common sense somewhere else that isn't your brain, I'm going to say this as simply as I possibly can. You still love him and he loves him. You must be blind or something not see the effort he's been using to try to get you to let him back in. He even went to find you when he came back from the village to make things right when he could have easily left you alone. Then he goes as far as to sneak into your room and leave you a daffodil and left another one in your kitchen. I don't know what else you want. This is Sasuke we're talking about. Sasuke, as you know, isn't good with words, but what his actions say clearly defines what he wants, and that's you, Forehead." Throughout Ino's confession both her eyes and voice soften to a look of longing replacing her former anger and irritation she held against Sakura.

All Ino wants is for Sakura to be happy. The first time she met Sakura, she remembers vividly as the tears stream down her face, her pink bangs making her look like a ghost as they fell in front of her face. That sad, little girl, that bud that bloomed so beautifully and strong had blossomed into one of the best kunoichis Konoha has ever seen.

When Sasuke first left the village when they were genin, she remembers how Sakura tried so hard to put on a strong front in front of everyone, but once in a while it got to her and she broke down. She knew she cried in secret, not wanting to let anyone worry about her, and it broke Ino's heart every day knowing that Sakura was hurting. And now many years later, when she had finally found happiness, she pushes it away, rejecting it.

Ino decides it's Sakura's pride that she doesn't want to let fall, after she rebuilt her walls that Sasuke had knocked down, but Ino wonders if Sasuke even had to knock the walls down in the first place or did Sakura knock them down herself for Sasuke to enter. Ino plays with this idea in her head as Sakura stares wide eye at her, tears blooming in her eyes. "I see now," Ino muses, "Sakura did knock down her own walls for Sasuke and now she wants to keep them up and let Sasuke work for the key so he can earn her trust back."

Sakura still doesn't speak, but a tear runs down her ivory face. Ino sighs and straightens herself upright and walks towards Sakura, sitting in front of her on top of her desk. "Look, Sakura, I never meant to come off like that and I'm sorry if I offended you, but that's how I see it. I see him trying to get you back because he knows he messed up, and you shutting him out when you so desperately want to let him back in." She raises her hands and wipes Sakura's tears away with her thumbs.

"You're right," Sakura mutters, placing her hands on Ino's wrist to keep her hands on her cheeks. "I didn't understand it at first, but with your words and his actions, oh god, I just don't know what to do anymore."

"Do you still love him?"

Sakura raises her emerald eyes to meet with Ino's baby blues and Ino can see her answer written clear as day reflecting off of Sakura's eyes. "Yes, I do," she says, looking away right after as if she's ashamed she still loves him after what he did to her.

"Then tell him," Ino simply states, pulling her hands free from Sakura's grip and placing them on her lap.

"It's not that simple. I'm scared he's going to hurt me again. He always hurts me, even if he doesn't mean to, but he always does and I'm starting to think it isn't worth the pain anymore even if I do love him."

Ino doesn't say anything, but instead stares intensely at Sakura with such sadness. "Listen to your heart, Sakura. I know this sounds cliché, but trust me."

* * *

Sakura opens her door to her apartment and steps inside, shutting the door behind her. After a long agonizing day at work all she wants to do is head to bed, but she barely got any of her work completed today so she takes them home to finish. She knows he's not home when she fails to see his shoes at the doorway and lets out the breath she wasn't aware she was holding. Slipping off her shoes, she makes her way towards the kitchen to make a cup of tea, before she got started on the forms she failed to complete.

After putting water into her kettle and placing it on the stove, she picks up the daffodil from the kitchen table where she left it in the morning and took it to her room. Opening her balcony door, she turns left and kneels down. She places the daffodil in her hand with the first one she received from him in a vase filled with water. She lightly brushes her fingers over the petals, feeling its velvety smoothness on the pads of her fingertips, her thoughts filled with him. She shakes her head to get chase the thoughts of him away and straightens up making her way back inside, closing the door behind her.

* * *

The clock on her wall reads 10:30pm when Sakura decides to call it a night. She managed to get more than half of the papers filled out with only a couple more to be completed. She gathers the papers into a neat stack as she stands and stretches for having been sitting in the same position for hours all day.

Sasuke had not returned while she was working and she decides that he really is avoiding her and would only return once she's asleep.

She goes about her nightly routine before tucking herself in bed. She stays awake, fighting her heavy lids from closing for the night, hoping she could catch Sasuke when he walks in to confront him on his actions, but her eyelids beat her fighting will as sleep consumes her.

* * *

Sasuke enters the apartment quietly, taking small, soft steps hoping not to wake her. He walks to the couch and takes off his cloak and places it on the back of the couch. He places his pillow against the arm rest and gently lies down hoping the springs of the couch wouldn't announce his presence and they don't.

He's tired and exhausted as he recalls his day. He woke up early so Sakura wouldn't be forced to talk to him. After their encounter in the Hokage's office he understands that Sakura doesn't want anything to do with him, so he tries his best to stay away from her even though it's killing him inside.

The day at the bridge he never thought she would tell him to leave her alone. He can still recall the angry tears that welled up in her eyes that she fought hard not to let fall, as if tears would degrade her to weakness. He never thought that she would be the one to walk away from him and his heart pulls in his chest when he knows he's the cause for her pain.

Never would he imagine he would cause her to let more tears fall. He never meant to lie to her when he told her that each time would be his last, but he needed to go and see more. He had overlooked so many things with eyes full of hate and vengeance that he missed out on the beauty of the lands he visited. Now he is back for good, and he's going to try his hardest to show Sakura that he's changed and how much he needs her.

He shows her with the daffodils. He knows what the flower meant when Sakura brought them every day when she visited him in the hospital. He had to do some research on the flower and he found out its other meanings and how fitting it was for his situation to show her how much he cares. He just hopes that she understands the meaning and doesn't think he's just leaving random flowers laying around her apartment.

After leaving the daffodil on her kitchen table, he went straight to Naruto's to wake him up to train. The blonde ignored him after wanting to get more hours of sleep, but after a few taunting words he got him out of bed and onto the training grounds where they spent most of the day.

Sasuke never told Naruto about his situation with Sakura, but while they were having lunch at Ichiraku he asks.

"When you left the last time, something happened between you and Sakura-chan, right?"

He doesn't answer the question, but after having Naruto chatter on and on about the state he reduced her to, he tells him.

He hesitates before telling him how they were together and how happy he had been to have someone to come back to each time he left on his journey, but not just someone, it was _her_. He told him how much she means to him and now he lost her, because he lied to her and no matter what he did she wouldn't talk to him.

Naruto doesn't say anything as he puts some noodles in his mouth, slurping them up. He chews, swallows and says, "Sakura-chan had been miserable for the past six months while you were off, wherever you were. You never sent her any letters or even told the Hokage or me anything to tell her, so of course she's going to shut you out after you didn't seem to care what you did to her. You have to make it right between you guys, because I know both of you still love one another."

Sasuke looks away, blushing after hearing Naruto say that they loved one another. Sakura had told him many times that she loved him, but he never told her back. Instead he would say, "I know," or just simply kiss her. Naruto notices Sasuke's abrupt change when he turns away from his ramen, his cheeks turning red and puts two and two together.

"You haven't told her you loved her, huh?"

He doesn't say anything as he redirects his gaze towards his ramen.

"I know you use your actions to speak for how you truly feel, but I think you should tell her."

As he lies awake on her couch he can't believe he's actually contemplating taking Naruto's advice, but he does have a point. Since Sakura was thirteen she confessed her love for him, and now after so many years, after having mutual feelings he still never told her those meaningful words.

He sighs and rolls onto his side, facing away from the couch as he lets his eyelids falls, letting sleep take him over.

* * *

_Red. Everything is red. The ground is splattered with it as well as the walls of the room he is in. He raises his hands in front of him and he sees that they are covered in red as well. It's warm and he automatically freezes as he realizes what it is._

_Blood._

_The room he's in is dark, except for streams of moonlight leaking in through the broken sliding screen doors. He recognizes the familiar pattern on the door and realizes that he's in his childhood home. With a quick scan of the room, he slides the door open running through the walkway to the one room he dreaded to enter when he was left all alone as a child. The room he found his parents' bodies in._

_Standing in front of the door he draws a deep breath in to face whatever scene he is about to encounter, and throws open the door. The room is fully lit by the moonlight from the windows and he sees that no one is inside. He releases his breath, but something catches his attention in the far left corner of the room. He cautiously makes his way towards what he can now see is a piece of red fabric and as soon as he picks it up the door slams shut._

_He spins around to face the door, clutching the red fabric in his right hand as his body gets into a defensive stance. There is a silhouette standing by the door, but the moonlight does not reach that far to illuminate who it is. The person takes a step towards him and Sasuke can tell from the build of the person that it is a male. He carries a sword to the right of him and as the silhouette makes his way towards the moonlight he can see that he is dragging something or someone behind him._

_Sasuke does not move from his stance, but as the silhouette stands in the moonlight his eyes grow wide as he see who it is._

_"No," he mutters, "it can't be."_

_The silhouette chuckles as he stares intimately at Sasuke. "What can't be," he mocks him, turning his lips into a smirk. "Do you think those mighty eyes of yours are deceiving you? I am you and you are me."_

_Sasuke can see the way the silhouette reflects the image of him when he was sixteen. The onyx hair that spikes at the back, to his white high collared shirt that he left halfway unzipped. He wears dark blue pants with a blue cloth from his stomach to his knees with a purple belt that is used to keep the blue cloth and his sword in place. Sasuke debates if it was a clone, but his chakra signature is that of the same of his own to even make it one that wasn't his._

_Sasuke doesn't speak as he is more concentrated on what he was dragging behind him. His younger self's smirk raises as he sees he caught Sasuke's attention. He throws the rope, in which he was using to drag the bag with, at his feet. He bends down and unties the bag to show Sasuke what was inside. As the bag falls to reveal what is inside, so did Sasuke's stance._

_Pink hair catches his attention as it's tangled and scattered in every direction on her head. Her red shirt is torn, covered in cuts and her blood as well was her arms and the rest of her body._

_Sasuke's eyes doesn't leave the pink haired girl in front of his younger self as he tightens his grip on the red fabric in his hands, forming it into a fist._

_"What did you do to her," he growls at his younger self, but this made him laugh._

_"To Sakura? Oh, not too much. You know, a slash here and a slash there."_

_"Why," he snarls, not liking his answer._

_"Why?" he echoes. "I think it's obvious why I did it. You wanted her gone. Remember that time when you almost stuck your hand through her chest with your Chidori? Don't you want to experience that? Because I know you wanted to at that time. A brutal way to go too, using the Chidori to pierce a hole right through her chest where her heart beats for you. The girl that you claimed was precious to you. The girl that was willing to sacrifice her village for you. Yeah, I see just how precious she is to you," he says tauntingly as he pulls her up by her arm._

_She staggers for a bit, but tries to wiggle out of his grasp and fails. Her breaths come out uneven and her glance is fixed onto the bag he carried her in. She doesn't raise her head to look at him._

_"Come now," he calls out to him. "Come and finish what you started." He raises his left hand to his face's level as it begins to spark with the blue lightning of the Chidori._

_Sakura squirms some more under his grip as tears stream down her face, her hair sticking to the trail they left behind. From where Sasuke's standing, he can see how badly the cuts litter her body as blood spills from it. The chirps of a thousand birds draws his attention back to his younger self and his eyes grow from that of worry to anger._

_"Let her go," Sasuke demands, but his younger self does not comply._

_"Let her go? Of course I'll let her go… To a better place." He maniacally laughs as he points his face towards the ceiling as his body shakes from his laughter._

_"If you hurt her anymore than-"_

_"If I hurt her? I think you're forgetting that you've been hurting her ever since I could remember, and you still are last time I checked."_

_Sasuke takes a step forward, but his younger self holds his hand closer to her back._

_"Remember you're only coming here to kill her, not to save her," but that doesn't stop Sasuke from approaching him. He couldn't save his parents, but he swears he'll save her._

_His younger self frowns disapprovingly as Sasuke lunges towards him, his hand sparking own Chidori._

_When Sasuke opens his eyes, he finds that his left hand is extended and warm. Very warm. A warm liquid drips from his hand and he doesn't have to look at his arm to know that it is blood. Sasuke smirks to himself knowing that he got his younger self with his Chidori, but as his eyes go to look at his arm he doesn't see the front of his younger self, but the back of Sakura with his arm right through her._

_His eyes grow wide with shock and his breath becomes uneven as he sinks to the floor, her body descending with him._

_"No," he whispers as he slowly withdraws his hand from her chest. He positions her body in a way for him to see the damage he's done, but he doesn't have it in him to look. His eyes instead focus on her glassy, emerald eyes as they struggle to stay open. Her mouth is leaking blood as he knows he must have pierced her lungs._

_"Sasuke-kun," she manages to whisper as she coughs up blood._

_"No, no," he says breathlessly, "don't speak. It's going to be okay."_

_He knows it's not going to be okay, with the damage he's done to her she's going to die in his arms. He brings her body closer towards him and buries his face in her neck. He can feel her uneven breath, hot against his ear._

_"Everywhere you go, you cause misery and death."_

_Sasuke freezes with her in his arms when her voice didn't come out muffled and by the blunt words she tells him._

_"Just take a look around you and see what you've caused."_

_Sasuke's eyes widen as he quickly pulls Sakura out of his embrace. He studies her figure and sees that there is still a gaping hole in her chest, but her lips are turned into a smug grin._

_He rests her body on the ground and takes a look around the room. All he could see is bodies. All motionless and with a pool of blood underneath them. He sees his brother, facing the ceiling, looking exactly the way he did when he killed him. He sees Kakashi's and Naruto's body in broken messes on the ground. He sees his parents, his father on top of his mother as their lifeless eyes stare at him. He senses someone behind him and quickly turns around and sees his younger self with Sakura in his grasp yet again. He quickly looks behind him and sees that she is no longer there and looks back at him. Sakura is missing the hole in her chest that he placed, but she still is littered with cuts, her blood painting her body. She squirms in his grasp, her eyes locked with his own reflecting fear._

_His younger self chuckles and Chidori is formed in his left hand yet again. Sasuke tries to stand to stop his younger self, but he can't move his body. He stares helplessly as he watches with horror as the Chidori pierces her body for the second time that night._

* * *

Sakura wakes to the sound of grunts and cries of 'no.' She silently gets out of bed and grabs a kunai for defense. She slowly makes her way to her room door and opens it just big enough for her to squeeze through. She follows the sounds of the grunts to her living room and finds Sasuke thrashing around on her couch. She quickly rushes to his side, dropping to her knees before hi, placing the kunai beside her.

She takes him in noticing how he's covered in sweat and his arms are outstretched, reaching out for something or someone. Her heart breaks knowing that he has suffered from such a bad nightmare. Before when he was staying by her, he would get nightmares and he would always wake up soon after, but he was never covered in sweat or would cry out in his sleep.

Without any hints of hesitation, she places her hand on his forehead and sends soothing chakra through it to him. She watches how his shaking slowly eases down, his expression on his face looking a bit more peaceful. She smiles a bit, hoping that whatever he was dreaming is subsiding.

His eyes fly open and he shoots up from his spot on the couch, breathing harshly as he tries to catch his breath. He slaps his forehead against Sakura's hand from his abrupt movement causing her pull back her hand, wrapping it in with her other hand. Sasuke places a hand on his stinging forehead from the impact from her hand and quickly turns his head right and sees Sakura, on her knees in front of him, her face showing concern and worry.

He doesn't know what comes over him when he pulls her into his arms. His right arm snakes around her waist while his left goes behind her head, pushing it against his chest. He feels her stiffen against him, but he doesn't care. She's alive and real and without a hole in her chest that he made. Relief floods his body when he feels Sakura melt against his body as she wraps her arms around his waist, using one of them to rub his back.

"Are you okay?" she softly asks.

"Hn." He wraps his arms tighter around her and he hears her breath hitch in her throat in the process.

The nightmare felt too real, because it had been at some point in his life. He did almost take her life, twice, and there wasn't a minute of the day that he doesn't regret it even if Sakura claims it's okay.

After a while of being in each other's embrace, Sakura's consistent rubs against his back slowly stops and she releases him, unwrapping her arms from around him.

"I, ugh, I should go back to bed."

"No," he immediately blurts out. "Don't go."

Sakura blushes by his sudden request and replaces her arms back around his waist. She resumes rubbing his back and she can hear his heart rate gradually getting slower, returning to its normal beats.

She wasn't sure how long she had been in his embrace, but her eye were growing heavy with the need for sleep. She yawns against Sasuke's chest, but he pulls her closer to him.

"Let me go, Sasuke. I want to go back to sleep."

He doesn't say anything as he shamelessly holds on to her as if his life depended on it. It is probably killing her inside to be in his arms again, but he needs her to be in them after the sight he witnessed in his dreams.

"If you aren't going to let me go come sleep with me," she softly suggests. He doesn't release her from his arms, but if he did and looked at her he knew that she would be blushing.

"Are you sure?" he asks a little surprised by her proposal.

"Yes," she lies, "I'm sure."

Sakura definitely does not want Sasuke in her bed. He was the reason she had to replace her old mattress. Even though she desperately wants sleep, it seems she's not going to be getting any tonight with him right beside her.

He slowly unwraps his arms from around her and she does the same. She stands and takes his pillow from the couch and walks in her room. Sasuke stands from the couch and follows her. He stands at the doorway unsure if he should enter or not. Unsure if he's doing the right thing, but he sees Sakura already in bed placing his pillow beside hers. She gestures for him to enter and when he finally takes a step in and closes the door behind him, Sakura turns towards the wall. He gets into bed beside her and faces away from her.

"Good night, Sasuke."

"Good night, Sakura."

Sakura stares at the wall unable to get to sleep. She curses herself for even suggesting for him to come sleep with her. She lets out a quiet sigh as she knows it's going to be another long exhausting day at the hospital tomorrow. She closes her eyes and tries to get some sleep.

Twenty minutes pass and she's still wide awake. She wonders if Sasuke managed to get back to sleep, and from his steady breathing combined with the fact he didn't move since he got into her bed she assumes he has. She closes her eyes again and decides to count sheep hoping this method would help her.

When she counts twenty-eight sheep her eyes fly open as she feels pressure on her waist. She looks down and sees his arm wrapped around her.

Before she could protest, he says, "Just for tonight." Her eyes soften as she wishes she could take whatever nightmare he had and erase it from his mind.

"Only if you tell me what happened in your nightmare."

There's silence and then he agrees with a nod. "I'll tell you tomorrow."

Sakura shuffles closer to him so his chest is against her back. He keeps his arm still around her waist, but she takes it and pulls it tighter around her, intertwining their fingers in the process.

It's killing her inside to be like this, but it feels so right to be held in his arms. Her heart aches, but yet it's beating uncontrollably in her chest. He snuggles closer to her and presses his lips against the nape of her neck.

She gasps when his lips meet the back of her neck and she slowly turns her head to face him, but instead he buries his face against her neck and doesn't apologize for his sudden action. She sees his eyes are closed and she turns her head back around and closes her eyes and surprisingly, she somehow manages to fall asleep.

* * *

The buzzing of her alarm wakes her up and the events of last night slowly comes flooding in. She slowly raises when she sees she's no longer wrapped in his arms and turns around hoping to find him there beside her, but he isn't there. Instead, she finds a single daffodil on his pillow.

_tbc_


	6. Missing

"She didn't keep them."

From the grass where he was lying upon, Naruto turns his head towards Sasuke, raising an eyebrow in confusion. "What didn't she keep?"

"The flowers."

"Wait, hold up," Naruto says as he struggles to sit up straight after his intense training with Sasuke. He could feel his body screaming with every inch he moved, but he ignores the pain to face his friend. "You gave her flowers and she threw them away?"

"Yeah," Sasuke says, staring up at the bright blue sky. His mismatched eyes follow the occasional bird that flies by until it was out of sight. "They're not in her room or in her living room or even the kitchen. When I left, I exited through her balcony and they weren't outside either." He covers his eyes with his left arm, sighing. "I shouldn't have left that other daffodil beside her when I left now knowing that she's going to throw it away," he mutters, knowing that they weren't appreciated as he thought they would have to been.

"Teme, what are you talking about? Why would Sakura throw them away? She loves flowers so why would she throw them out?"

"I don't know," he says defeated as he sighs again. "I honestly thought she would keep them."

Naruto frowns. It upsets him to see his friend so sad, even when he feels he deserves it. "Well what do you expect? You leave for how long? Six months? That's half a year, Teme, and you didn't even write her letters, and you honestly-"

"What are you talking about, Dobe," he says alarmed, sitting up and faces Naruto. "I wrote her letters. I wrote to her almost every day. Did she tell you I haven't written to her?"

Naruto rubs his temples trying to comprehend everything because they weren't adding up. "You told me, you didn't send her any letters. And yeah, she did. But Sakura-chan wouldn't lie about not receiving them."

"When did I say I didn't send her letters?"

"Yesterday, when we were having lunch. Remember?"

Sasuke recalls the conversation he had with Naruto, but he wasn't really listening because he never thought that Naruto of all people would be the one to give him advice.

"I did send her letters," he reassures as he crosses his arm at his chest. "That's probably why she was hostile towards me. My letters must have gotten lost somewhere."

"Where did your hawks leave your letter?"

"On her balcony."

"Maybe-"

"No, I doubt the wind would blow it away. It can't blow away almost six months of letters without her not seeing a single one of them."

"So then someone took them."

Sasuke looks at Naruto and raises an eyebrow for him to elaborate because who would want to steal letters.

"I mean, someone _had_ to have took them. That's the only thing I could think of," he says as his right hand comes up to stroke his chin. Naruto's eyes widen as he slams them on the grass. "Teme, what if someone also took Sakura's flowers as well?"

Sasuke's eyes widen by the fact that someone was possibly following Sakura and taking everything that seemed to be a gift from him.

"I don't think it would be a fan girl either. You're barely here, plus most of the ones that liked you got over you after you became a criminal."

"Yeah," he replies, ignoring his criminal jab at him, "but who could be the one who is stalking her?"

"Did anyone try to talk to you whenever you were in the village?"

"No," he answers automatically. "The only people I saw when I was visiting was you, Kakashi and Sakura."

Naruto looks off to the side, tying all the information together to gather possible suspects, but his eyes widen as he comes to a realization. "Sasuke," he gravely whispers, "I don't think this person wants to steal you away from Sakura. I think this person is targeting Sakura and not in a good way."

"What the hell are you talking about? How did you co-"

"Think about it," he sternly says as his blue eyes hold his glance with such seriousness that Sasuke hasn't seen from him in years. "If they wanted you, they would have offered for you to stay at their place since they would have known about your situation. But," he says holding index finger up, "no one offered. Also, if they wanted you, wouldn't they have tried to get you when Sakura believed you wanted nothing to do with her? Plus, they haven't even tried to talk to you." They're getting rid of everything you gave her. They purposely interfered with the letters and the flowers which were all at her home."

"It just sounds as if they're jealous of her and they took the letters and flowers for themselves."

"Yes, Sasuke," Naruto agrees, walking on his knees towards him. Grabbing him by the collar of his shirt, Naruto pulls him roughly towards him. "But this person _followed_ Sakura. This person _knew_ what time you sent her letters and what time to grab it by before she comes home. This person has been _watching_ her for so long to know this! For _six_ months!

"Okay," Naruto says standing up, releasing Sasuke from his grasp and paces back and forth in front of him with his right hand under his chin. "With this information, we can conclude that this person knows a lot about your consistent schedule when you were absent from the village and Sakura's current one. This person has to be a ninja for them to do this stealthily without breaking into her apartment and without Sakura or anyone else knowing."

"Who would be stupid enough to do that?" Rising to his feet, Sasuke crosses his arms at his chest. "I'm staying with her and Sakura is more than capable to take care of herself."

"This person may be stupid, but I'm pretty sure they have a plan up their sleeve whatever it may be. Ask Sakura tonight about the flowers and letters, just in case."

"Hn." Sasuke makes his way past Naruto and towards the village.

"Where are you going?"

"To check on her."

* * *

From the rooftop, she watches Sakura at her desk reading her medical forms. Her curtains are drawn and her windows are wide open to allow the bustle of the village and the fresh air to enter her office.

Her left arm is propped on her hip and all her weight is placed on her left foot. She sees as Sakura suddenly turns her head to the left as something or someone catches her attention. She sees her blonde friend walking over to the front of her desk, dropping a slip of paper on it before she leans on the desk and tells Sakura something that causes her to grab the slip of paper as her eyes roam over the words. Her face appears to be stressed.

She smirks as she turns around and hops off the roof of the building and into a dark alleyway.

She chuckles maniacally as a smug grin makes its way upon her face.

* * *

At the sound of her door opening, Sakura turns her head to the left as Ino storms in, dropping a slip of paper on her desk. Leaning against Sakura's desk, Ino stares Sakura in the eyes with anger. Her soft baby blues are fierce and dark. "Someone has been taking some of our medical supplies."

Sakura automatically grabs the paper Ino dropped on her desk and reads it over.

"For the past six months someone has been taking small amounts of those supplies. I think they thought no one would notice since it is just small quantities, but we did."

After reading through the sheet, she raises her gaze towards Ino. "How is this even possible? Don't we do inventory check every week? Wouldn't we have noticed sooner?"

Ino sighs. "We do, but I went back to look at the past months records, it showed how there wasn't a change in the amounts. But you know how we usually change who does inventory each week? Well I had to do it this week, and when I noticed those amounts were missing I went and looked at the archives and it showed how the same person did it the past six months."

Sakura opens her mouth to say something, but Ino holds out her hand to stop her and continues.

"I went to ask the other medics and they said when they went to do the inventory check, the chart indicated it was completed for that week so they didn't do it."

"Who was the one who did the inventory check? Did you ask them about it?"

"Sakura, that's the freaky part. The person's name on the chart doesn't match with any of the current or former workers of this building."

"What," Sakura asks, her eyes snap wide open as she stares at Ino with shock.

"Yeah, and I've never heard of this person before. The person's name is Aka."

"I don't know that person either," Sakura admits as she rakes her brain to recall if she did, but she comes up empty. She glances down at the sheet trying to figure out what they could have wanted to do with these supplies.

"Do you know what they may want to do with the things they've stolen from us," Sakura asks. Ino frowns and shakes her head.

Ino walks towards Sakura and stares at the paper in her hand.

"What do we do now" Ino asks as Sakura grabs a blank sheet of paper and starts to write down all the things that were stolen.

"We need to figure out what they could possibly want with these items," she says as she continues to scribble them down. "And we need to find this person as well. Is there security cameras in that area? Did you check them?"

"Way ahead of you, Forehead. I checked them and they weren't working from the times they entered the stock room."

"Did you tell everyone to make sure that they're the ones who has to do inventory and it doesn't matter if it already said someone else already completed it?"

"Yep," Ino exclaims as she takes the paper out of Sakura's hand after she was finished with it. "I also asked if they ever saw anyone suspicious or out of the ordinary and they claimed they haven't."

Frowning, Sakura stands and walks to the bookshelf by the window and pulls out a medical textbook. She walks back towards Ino and places the book on her desk. She stacks up the papers she was working on in a neat pile and makes her way across the room to bring an extra chair for Ino.

"Sit," she tells her. "We need to figure out why this person took those things."

Ino complies and they work through their breaks and lunch and after staying behind two extra hours they discover the reason why Aka took those supplies.

* * *

Leaning against the wall by the entrance of the hospital, Sasuke kicks off of the wall and turns towards Sakura and Ino as they exit the building.

"Ah, Sasuke. What are you doing here?" Ino smirks teasingly at him knowing fully well why he is there.

He doesn't respond to her, but instead takes a step towards them and extends his hand towards Sakura.

Sakura's eyes widen as she stares down at his large hand. Does he want me to hold his hand, she muses as a faint blush dusts across her cheeks. From her side, she knows Ino is grinning from ear to ear.

"Give me those," he simply states, as he stares down at the stack of papers in her hand.

"Oh. Here," she says, handing him the papers. He takes them and holds them against his side.

"Well I'm meeting Sai for dinner," Ino suddenly announces as she takes a step away from them, waving goodbye. "I'll see you tomorrow, Forehead," she chimes with a wink before she takes off in the opposite direction from her house.

Sakura rolls her eyes knowing Ino is lying only to give her some alone time with Sasuke, and she wasn't sure if she was grateful or if she wanted to strangle her.

"What are you doing here," she asks as she makes her way down the road.

"I was in the area and I thought we should go home together," he answers. He doesn't tell her how he had been watching her from the rooftops to make sure she was safe. He even went by her apartment to make sure there was no one suspicious, but he didn't find or see anything out of the ordinary.

"How was work," he asks her, when she doesn't say anything.

"It was alright."

"You didn't get much done?"

"What makes you say that," she asks, offended, looking up at him.

He motions down towards the stack of papers he was carrying.

"Oh, those. Yeah, something happened that needed our imitate attention so I guess I have to try to finish those at home."

He doesn't show it on his face, but it upsets him that she didn't elaborate on what was so important to draw her attention elsewhere and he doesn't want to pry for more information.

He's surprised that she doesn't ask him anything about the previous night concerning his nightmare, but he brushes it off by the fact that she probably forgot due to work. He wasn't sure if he was grateful or not for that, because a piece of him wants to let her in and tell her about his demons that still haunts him and a piece of him is scared that they will chase her away.

* * *

After pouring herself a cup of tea after dinner, she exits the kitchen and makes her way swiftly towards her room.

"Sakura," he calls out to her when she passes the couch. "I need to ask you something."

She stops and slowly turns around to face him. He's sitting on her couch with a scroll on his lap, in a navy t-shirt and black sweats. "What is it?"

He stares at her, but doesn't say anything. She sighs and makes her way to sit on the opposite end of the couch.

"Well," she urges for him to ask his question.

Sighing, she stands to leave when he fails to ask her, but he grabs her wrist as she passes him.

"Did you get my letters?" His voice is steady and his glance doesn't move to her as he focuses on the wall in front of him.

"What?"

"I said: did you get my letters?" This time he raises his glance to stare into her emerald eyes, long and hard.

She stares at him for a long time before shaking her head. "I didn't get any letters," she whispers as she sinks back into the couch, staring at her tea. Her body goes numb as her mind plays over and over his question like a broken record. _Did you get my letters?_

"You didn't get anything in the past six months?"

Sakura's breath hitches in her throat and she feels the tears burning her eyes, but they're not the tears that had been frequenting her eyes before in the past; now they're tears of happiness.

"No," she softly whispers. "I didn't receive anything."

"The daffodils. Did you keep them or throw them out?"

She looks at him with a quizzical look. "What? Where are you going with this, Sasuke?"

"Did you keep them or throw them out," he repeats.

"I kept them," she tells him, her cheeks burning with embarrassment. "They're, uhm, they're on my balcony."

"They're not."

"What?"

"They're not there."

"What are you talking about, Sasuke. I put them there just yesterday." Setting her cup of tea on the table, she stands and walks towards her room to grab the vase to show him that she did indeed keep them.

When she reaches her balcony door, he's right behind her. She swings open the door and steps out into the chilly night air. She turns left and kneels down, but finds that the daffodils are missing.

"What the hell," she angrily says. "I put them here yesterday. Where did they go?"

All that was left of the flowers were just a couple of petals that had fallen off of the flowers.

She stands and leans over the railing to see if the wind had somehow blew them over, and something catches her attention from below. She places all her weight on her hands and hops over the railing, landing on the ground without a sound, and Sasuke was just as silent behind her when he lands.

She kneels on the ground and picks up the crumpled daffodils.

"How the hell did they get down here?" She looks up at her balcony and back to where she found them. "There's no way that they could have fallen here, looking like this, just because of the wind."

Her eyes fall back down to the ground when something else catches her attention. The ground is uneven, as if someone dug a hole and covered it back with dirt.

Throwing the flowers to the side, Sakura starts to dig where the dirt was upturned.

"Sakura, stop," Sasuke demands, placing a hand firmly on her shoulder.

"No," she hisses, shaking his hand off her shoulder, "I think there's something down here."

She digs into the ground getting dirt under her nail, but she continues to dig through the pain. After training with Tsunade and learning how to make holes in the ground with her bare hands, digging a hole with them should be no problem.

She stops when something catches her attention. She gently lifts it out of the ground and finds that it's paper. She brushes off the dirt that's stuck to it and flips it over, analyzing it.

It's a letter and on the front it reads: Sakura.

She whips around and locks eyes with Sasuke as she slowly rises. "It's your letter," she softly mutters as her eyes flicker down to the worn out paper in her hands. She kneels back down and starts to dig again, hoping to find the rest of the missing letters.

"Stop, Sakura. Just stop," Sasuke pleads from behind her, placing his hand on her shoulder, but this time with more force.

"No, Sasuke, I wouldn't stop," she says angrily under her breath. "Want to know why? I've spent six months thinking, no, _believing_ that you wanted nothing to do with me. I believed you didn't send me anything, but lo and behold you did. So don't try to stop me."

He sighs heavily and drops to his knees beside her, studying her face that reflects nothing but the flame of determination.

After roughly five minutes of digging, she pulls out eleven letters from the hole. There are probably more down there, but her fingers are a bloody mess and she is curious as to what the letters contain.

She sits on her bottom, crossing her legs and heals her fingers before picking up a letter from the pile. It's crumpled and torn in various places, but the print is still legible. She opens the letter and reads the first sentence before the letter comes flying out of her hand.

She locks eyes with Sasuke, glaring intensely at him as she extends her hand for him to give it back to her, but he refuses with a shake of his head. She sighs, rolling her emerald eyes in annoyance and picks up another letter from the pile, but he too snatches it away.

"What the hell, Sasuke. I didn't just dig through dirt with my bare hands for you to take away the letters you wrote me. Now give them back," she hisses with frustration.

"No," he simply states looking down at the letters and then back into her eyes. "If you want to know what they say so badly, I'll just tell you."

"I'm more than capable of reading them on my own, thank you very much. Now give them back."

"No," he repeats again, with no emotions laced in his voice. His face and eyes are unreadable, but it somehow causes her heart to beat a little faster in her chest. "I'll just summarize them all for you."

He leans forward until his face is an inch away from hers. He caresses her cheek and tucks a lock of her pastel pink hair behind her ears. Her heart is beating rapidly in her chest and she hopes that he can't hear it. His hand interlock with her own, and his other hand is still against the hair he pushed behind her ear.

He looks her in her emerald eyes and she gasps when she sees his eyes soften, showing the unspoken feeling he's never said; only having shown her through his actions.

"I love you," he whispers against her lips before his comes crashing down on hers.

* * *

From a distance, the woman watches as Sakura finds the letters she buried with the daffodils she placed on top. Her inside burn and bile rises to her throat when she sees Sasuke kissing her. Her hands form tight fists, but her anger disappears when she remembers her plan she already has set into motion.

* * *

**a/n**: _who do you think aka is ?_


	7. Letters

The moon, bright and full, cascades shadows all around. The stars glisten in the calm night sky and there is a peaceful silence that consumes the streets, but the only thing Sakura can hear is the rapid thumping of her shocked heart.

Sasuke's lips against hers was a sensation she never thought she would forget, but she had. His kisses are feather light as they reclaim her lips after six months of absence, and his hands familiarize themselves with the warmth and curve of her body.

Sakura closes her eyes and snakes her arms around his neck, pulling him flush against her. The kiss deepens which causes her to melt into it as her walls that she rebuilt over the past six months continues to stand strong. Sakura doesn't have to knock down any walls for Sasuke, since he already held the key to her heart the entire time.

Sasuke is the first to break the kiss as he gasps for air. His onyx eyes flutter open, searching her face for a reaction, but her eyes are closed and her lips slightly ajar. Her cheeks are slightly red, and her hair is slightly out of place, but everything is made crystal clear to him when she opens her eyes and he sees that they reflect the same emotion he is feeling: love.

Emerald eyes dance with onyx as they meet. Sakura's arms are still wrapped around his neck and his arms are still wrapped around her waist and everything in the moment is magical. For a moment, Sakura thinks she's dreaming, so she closes her eyes and pinches her arm thinking that she'll wake up and her eyes will meet with her white ceiling, but instead when she opens her eyes all she sees is onyx combined with love.

There's no exchange of words, but only through their eyes do they have a silent conversation as she stares at him with wonderment and him to her with pure bliss as he's finally confessed how he truly feels.

Scooping her up effortlessly in his strong arms, he jumps to her balcony. Their eyes don't disconnect as he walks back inside her room and closes the door behind him with his right foot.

Walking towards the bed, he places her down gently and gets in after her, wrapping a blanket around them. Sakura is the first to break their eye contact when she closes her eyes shut and sighs heavily causing Sasuke to raise an eyebrow.

"This feels so wrong, but yet so right," she confesses with her eyes still closed.

Sasuke hesitantly wraps his arms around her and pulls her small frame closer to his large one.

"I never knew you sent letters." Her voice is low and it cracks as she is on the verge on spilling tears of regret. "I feel so horrible." She briefly recalls how she treated him since he returned to the village. She was cold and distant to him. She walked away from him that day on the bridge, when Sasuke believed she was receiving the letters she never knew existed.

"It's fine," he nonchalantly reassures her.

"How can you say that?" Sakura opens her eyes and her glassy emerald eyes stare into his hard onyx ones with disbelief and his heart is full of sadness seeing her like this.

"It's not fine, Sasuke. I was so broken and I was so mean to you when you returned." A tear rolls down her cheek and Sasuke brushes it away with his thumb, leaving his left hand against her cheek. "If I had known, then maybe," she says looking down at his lips, "maybe it wouldn't feel as if I should run away."

Sasuke's heart clenches as his arms around her slackens and his eyes lower. "Then run," he mutters.

"The only place I want to run to is wherever you are." She confidently looks into his eyes and smile as she sees that he's taken aback by her response.

"Are you sure?"

She snuggles closer to him and buries her face against his chest, breathing in his familiar scent. "Yes. I'm sure."

Sakura's eyes begin to close as the need for sleep consumes her body, but she quickly snaps them open. "The letters," she says as she rises out of bed to retrieve them, "we forgot them outside."

His hand grabs her wrist and tugs her back against him. He pulls her back into his embrace and murmurers against her hair, "leave them. I'll get them tomorrow."

Nodding against his chest, Sakura closes her eyes and drifts to sleep in the arms of the man she loves.

Sasuke gives in with his own need for sleep, and closes his eyes with pink being the last thing he sees.

* * *

_Pink is the first thing he sees as the sun makes the darkness retreat. Her pink hair brushes the hand that is wrapped firmly around her neck; the hand that lifts her up so effortlessly off the ground. Her hands are on his arm as she claws and scratches at them to release her, but instead he smirks and lets out a smug chuckle. _

_In his other hand, he holds a kunai and suddenly everything feels so surreal. Sasuke tries to run to aid her, but his body is frozen as he helpless watches her squirm and hears her choke. _

_His cold, empty onyx eyes divert towards Sasuke as his smirk broadens. _

_"__You remember this don't you? The feel of her neck, so fragile and soft in your grasp?" He lifts the kunai with his right and traces it lightly over her neck. _

_A thin line of blood spills from the cut causing her to wince from the pain._

_Sasuke tries again to try and move towards them or at least try to call out to his demons, but he can't. It's as if he's trapped and forced to watch the last thing he ever wants to do or see. _

_"__You willingly almost killed her that day. The girl who is currently beside you; the girl you love so much; the girl you finally told you loved, but what would happen if I kill that girl?"_

_Sasuke watches in horror as he draws his arm back and slices her throat. There's no scream, but he watches the way her body goes limp in his hand and the blood that spills from her throat coats his hand and falls, pooling at his feet. _

_He throws her lifeless body towards him and it lands at his feet. Her eyes are wide open, but they're dull and motionless. Her throat still continues to spill blood, drenching her clothes._

_Sasuke studies her face, eyes roaming over it, from her lifeless eyes to her pale skin and lips. He shuts his eyes tightly and mourns her death, blaming himself for being too weak. He blames himself for loving her only for her to have such a fate that she does not deserve. _

_Sasuke opens his eyes and they widen when her lifeless eyes stare into his and her pale lips curve in a smirk. _

_"__Sasuke," she calls out, "you did this to me. You killed me. Don't you see? Everything you love dies. And that includes me." _

_He wakes with a jolt, as he sits up and tries to catch his breath. Sweat drips down his face causing his charcoal hair to paste against his skin. Sasuke's heart races in his chest as if he had just finished sparing with Naruto. When his heart returns to its normal rhythm, his right hand quickly feels for Sakura, to make sure she that was okay, but his hand makes contact with a warm liquid. _

_Sasuke's breath hitches in his throat as he already knows what is covering his hand: her blood._

_His eyes quickly falls to his other hand as he raises it and discovers that that too is covered in blood. He slowly turns his head expecting to see the worse: a dull, motionless body of the only woman he would ever love and he does see that except she isn't motionless. Her body is covered in slashes and stab wounds, and her throat has a deep slash right through. His sword pierces right through her chest and into her heart that once beat for him._

_Her eyes are on him, and her lips turn into a smug grin, but her chest isn't moving to show that maybe she survived the fatal wounds. _

_"__You're killing me," she taunts as her hand comes and paints his arm with blood. "You're killing me just by loving me."_

_Her dull emerald eyes are the last he sees before everything goes black._

* * *

"Sasuke! Sasuke, wake up!"

The sensation of Sakura's chakra flowing through his body causes his eyes to fly open and he is met with emerald eyes filled to the rim with worry.

Sasuke pulls her into his arms and buries his face against her slash free neck. His breathing is rushed and his heartbeat is rapid. He feels Sakura's warm hand on his back, rubbing soothing circles against his shirt.

"In the morning," he says after he's caught his breath, "I'll tell you everything in the morning."

Sakura nods as her hand continues lazy circles against his back until he shifts so that her head is against his chest.

"Are you going to be okay?"

"Yes," he whispers as he places a light kiss against her forehead. _Only if you're by my side_, he wants to add, but he's scared that that will be the reason if she suddenly ends up dead.

* * *

A cool breeze dances over Sakura's skin causing small bumps to form in its wake. Sakura wraps the blanket around her slender form, tighter and cuddles closer to Sasuke for more warmth. Emerald eyes flutters open when her body fails to find his warmth and discovers that she is alone in her bed. Slowly rising, she places a hand where he was just last night and it's cold against her touch. Tugging the blanket off the bed, she searches for a daffodil, but finds none.

Sitting in bed alone, her eyes drop to her hands as her hands forms fists in the blanket. Her emerald eyes becoming glassy with the threat of tears to fall.

Thinking she must of dreamt it all, his abrupt confession, his letters, his kiss and his embrace, she wraps the blanket around her shoulders and makes her way towards the kitchen to start her Saturday morning.

Sakura suddenly comes to a halt when her eyes find him on her couch with a many piles of crumpled letters on her coffee table.

Sasuke turns towards her, smiling, and she walks towards him.

"Good morning," she says as she wraps the blanket tighter around her, staring down at the letters on her table. They were sitting in many piles and he notices her glance on them.

"Good morning," he replies, standing up, taking a step towards her and pulls her into his embrace. "I woke up a bit before you and I went outside to gather the letters. I dug deeper and found more, but I believe whoever buried them also burnt some of them because I found ashes. I'm in the process of organizing them so that-"

Sakura kisses his jawline which causes him to stop mid-sentence of his explanation from his disappearance from bed. "Thank you."

Releases her from his arms, he sits on the couch and motions for her to do the same. Sakura complies and sits beside him, tilting her head for an explanation.

"I, uhm, I-"

"Tell me about the nightmares," she finishes for him after she notes his fidgeting hands and his gaze locked on them. Placing her hand on his, she squeezes with reassurance.

Sasuke diverts his glance to her and nods. Closing his eyes, he draws in a deep breath and confesses everything to her.

Sasuke tells her about the nightmares and how they started occurring after they started seeing one another when he started visiting Konoha. How his nights once use to be peaceful and pleasant turned into horror and gore, having to watch the ones he loved, dead at his feet, his hands stained with their blood. When he left, and everything was over between them, he tells her how his dreams were once again peaceful, but his hours awake were not knowing that he had hurt her and that's why he started to write her letters. He hadn't expected her to reply or to even read them, but he wanted to keep sending her them to know that she is constantly in his thoughts. It wasn't until yesterday he started having his usual nightmares, but this time another body was added to the death toll, and that body was hers. He recalls vividly how his younger self would torture her and taunt him, taking pleasure out of it all, before killing her over and over while he helplessly watched.

Sakura snakes an arm around his waist and leans her head against his shoulder to comfort him.

Sasuke tells her how last night his nightmare came to him again, making him the one with his hands stained with her blood.

"The worst part of it all," Sasuke mutters, grabbing her hand and looks deeply into her eyes, "is that I'm starting to believe that by being with you, it's going to cause you to die."

Squeezing his hand, she smiles but it fails to reach her eyes. "You will not be the death of me, Sasuke. We will all die when our time comes, and trust me, my time and your time is not in the near future."

"I know, but-"

"No, buts," Sakura interjects with a shake of her head, sending her silky pink locks flying around her face. "I think you're only experiencing those nightmares, because you lost everyone you've ever loved and you're afraid it's going to happen again."

"You're right," he confesses after playing the idea around in his head. He had lost everyone he ever loved and cared for so it only makes sense for him to feel this way when he finally has someone to love again.

Sakura smiles brightly at him. "I'll be right beside you whenever you're having nightmares," she shyly says. Her cheeks turn red and she turns away from him.

Leaning forward, he kisses her cheek and thanks her. Standing, he stacks the letters in a specific order and picks up the top one from the pile handing it to her. She accepts it with a quizzical look.

"I have to meet with Kakashi for a bit, but I'll be back afterwards. Eat breakfast and if you want you can read through the letters," he informs her with a nod of his head towards the pile. "That letter is the first one I wrote. I managed to place them in order from which I wrote them in."

Sasuke kisses her forehead before heading towards the door. He pauses, turns around and says, "Be careful, Sakura. I know you don't think we wouldn't die anytime soon, but that doesn't excuse the fact that we should be cautious."

She nods before he slips out the door, locking it behind him.

* * *

After eating breakfast, Sakura sets a cup of tea beside the letters and picks up the first one Sasuke handed her.

_I'm sorry._

_I know there isn't much that I can say or do now, but I hope this letter gets to you before you start hating me more than you did when I left. _

_Walking away from you is the dumbest thing I've done since I returned, but trust me when I say, I never meant to hurt you, Sakura._

_I don't regret what we did or what we became (or what we were), but I regret being with you before I finished my journey. I am not yet cleansed of my sins, and I've tainted you; I've hurt you. You may have thought that I brought you joy, but you can't deceive yourself because you know the joy in your eyes instantly dissipates each time I leave; your laughter quiets, and your gleam in your eyes dims. I don't need to be there to know how you were and I could only imagine how you are right now after I've left. _

_You don't deserve that; you never deserved that, but I was selfish and wanted someone to return to each time. I may have took advantage of your love for me knowing that you would be there, patiently waiting for me, but now knowing that I have nothing to look forward to, I finally understand how you feel. _

_You deserve better, but I don't want to let you go. I am a selfish man, who has lost all and became nothing, but you make me someone. When I am with you, I am not Uchiha Sasuke from the infamous Uchiha clan nor am I, Uchiha Sasuke, the traitor; when I am with you I am just a man. I am just Uchiha Sasuke: the man who lost all, but found all. _

_I know you probably wouldn't forgive me and I don't expect you to, but I just want you to know that I will cherish the moments we spent together when I could have called you mine. _

Tears glide down her face as she closes the first letter he wrote. Sakura is speechless and the emotions she felt when he left six months ago comes rushing back, flooding her being.

Betrayal exists, but the trust that she now holds for Sasuke chases it away. Sadness and sorrow knocks at her door, but she scares it away with the happiness she feels knowing that he loves her. Loss dances across her mind, but he is here and he has found love in her.

Sakura doesn't go for the second letter from the pile, instead she picks one from the middle.

_Sakura. _

_It's been roughly four months and you still appear in my thoughts. I thought after remembering what I did to you, remembering what I reduced you to would allow me to move on, but my mind keeps flickering to you. _

_I know you understand why I had to leave Konoha that night when we were genin. I can still recall our conversation by the bench. It was never my intention to hurt you or cause you grief, but it seems that that is all I ever cause you. I cause you pain and suffering, tears and sorrow, and I almost took your life, but through it all you still somehow managed to love me. _

_I always wondered if I was worthy of your love. The man who lost love and threw it away each time it comes within my grasp. Am I worthy of yours? _

_Your love is so pure and so unconditional, while I'm tainted and love always had an expiration date for me. _

_Thank you, Sakura. For allowing me to experience love. Thank you for allowing me to be loved by you. Just –_

_Thank you. _

Sakura's heart breaks in her chest after reading his words.

"Oh Sasuke," she breathlessly mutters, "you are worthy of love. If it be mine or another's, you are worthy."

Readying her heart, she pulls the last letter out of the pile and opens it.

_I should be arriving at Konoha within a couple of days, for good this time, and I just wanted to inform you. _

_I don't know if you've been reading my letters and I don't blame you if you hadn't, but I just feel like I needed to tell you. _

_I hope I will find you waiting at the gates and if you're not there, I understand why. _

More tears continue to glide down her cheeks, until she breaks out sobbing. Her body shakes and heaves from the weight of his words and the failure of her actions.

Sakura hadn't known that he wanted her to be there for him, and she could only imagine how he felt when he saw she wasn't there.

She imagines how his hopeful face fell to disappointment as it washes over him and floods his body. The dread of entering the village to no one to call home, since she was his home. It was his childhood all over again, returning to ghosts and silence.

"I'm sorry," she murmurs over and over as more and more tears fall down her face. "I'm so sorry, Sasuke."

Calming herself down, she pulls the letter that is at the bottom of the pile out and opens it.

_Sakura. _

_My journey is almost over and I have saw many things that I had missed out on when my vision was darkened with revenge. _

_I should have listened to Kakashi, Naruto and you, but it was something I had to do. _

_I don't regret it; I don't regret leaving, because if I do I wouldn't have the knowledge I have now. I probably would have still hated my brother and I would have probably hated myself for letting my clan suffer a pointless death if I had stayed._

_The only people I loved were the members of my family. I've only felt love for a short while. _

_I'm sure you remember what my goals were when we introduced ourselves when Team Seven was formed. I wanted to kill a certain someone and I also wanted to revive my clan. I have achieved only half of my goals, but I no longer want to revive my clan. _

_The name of the Uchiha once meant so much to me. It meant pride, power, strength and I now know it means love. Uchihas value love, and I've failed to value you._

_I should have thought of you and your feelings more before I claimed you as my own and I shouldn't have lied by telling you each time I leave would be the last when it never was. _

_My last part of my goal was to revive my clan, but as a foolish twelve year old I never thought it through. Did I simply want to revive my clan for the sake of me not being the sole member of my clan or did I want a family, something to call my own, to love and protect and cherish? _

_Sakura, I now realize I don't want none of that. I had everything right in front of me, and I threw it all away in the pursuit of power. But like I said, I don't regret it. _

_Maybe someday I will have a loving family, and if or when that day comes, I want you to be right there by my side. _

If only she had known, she tells herself, she would have written back, and would have shown up at that gate. She would have been the home he would have returned to and she would have welcomed him back with open arms.

Wiping her tears, she stands and picks up her empty cup of tea after having finished it while reading Sasuke's letters. Her legs give away and she comes tumbling down onto the couch and the cup in her hand shatters against the hardwood floor from the impact of the fall. Her body is heavy like lead and her mind is foggy. She tries to lift her hand up to her forehead to send chakra through her body, but her effort is in vain as she has no control of her limbs. Sakura can feel her flow of chakra being to diminish throughout her body as if someone had placed chakra bonds on her. Despite her hazy mind, she gasps as she remembers what all the supplies that were stolen from the hospital were supposed to do.

"Boy, did it take a while for the paralyzer to kick in."

Sakura can't see the person who spoke, but they slowly made their way, in her view, hovering over her. Sakura tries to open her mouth to speak or even to move her body to defend herself as she recognizes the intruder, but to no avail.

The intruder smirks smugly to herself when Sakura can't react to her presence. "And I see your chakra no longer flows through you. That was just too easy: to break into a hospital and your apartment. You should get better security or work on your chakra sensing abilities."

Sakura's mind races with questions that she can't voice.

The intruder's smirks deepens. "Ah yes, you're probably wondering what I'm doing and why I'm doing this. So let's just cut to the chase. I want you dead."

If Sakura could move, her eyes would have widened and she would have put up a stance of intimidation, but she can't so she stares up into red, her face expressionless.

"I want you dead, because quite frankly you're an eye sore," she states with a sigh. "Also, because you tainted him. I know all about the relationship you two share, well I mean _shared_, because you're going to be gone soon." She circles around the couch and sits by Sakura's feet.

"If you're thinking that I want him, oh no, you're sadly mistaken. I did want him, but now I just want you and him dead. Yes, yes, I know I probably wouldn't be able to kill him, but watching him die inside as he watches me kill you, well that is just the cherry on top of a perfect sundae."

Reaching towards her leg, she pulls out a kunai and gently runs the side along her index finger so that her blood wouldn't spill.

"This is what I'm going to use to slit your throat." She moves the weapon closer for Sakura to see. She points to the body of the kunai to show Sakura the symbol that is engraved on it. "That's right," she taunts when Sakura instantly recognizes the symbol on the weapon, "I'm going to kill you with the Uchiha's weapon. It's kind of like dying by his hands as well, isn't it?

"And _yes_, if you're thinking that I am the one who buried the letters and destroyed the flowers, well you're right because it was me," she energetically confirms with a bright smile. "I made sure to place the flowers on top to show how his love is going to be buried under the ground just like those letters were. Oh, and don't worry, Sakura, I'll take my sweet, _sweet_ time killing you."

She takes the kunai in her hand and stabs Sakura's right arm. The kunai pierces right through her arm and straight into the couch. If Sakura could, she would wince in pain, but she is frozen; a mere doll for the intruder to play with against her will.

She pulls the kunai out of Sakura's arm, as the blood rushes out of her wound, soaking the couch. She places the kunai against Sakura's other arm and runs a thin, straight cut from the inside of her wrist to the top of her arm, breaking her skin and forming a thin line of blood to appear.

The broke tea cup catches her attention from the ground. She smirks to herself as she picks up the biggest piece and twirls it around in her fingers. She hovers it over Sakura's abdomen and stabs in right in the middle of her stomach, inches about her navel.

Sakura closes her eyes tight as tears begin to spill from her eyes.

"For being one of the best kunochi and the medic of the village, you sure are a cry baby, aren't cha?"

She slashes the kunai up and down her legs, creating both deep and swallow cuts.

Pauses when she hears footsteps approaching the front door, she takes to where Sakura's head is and places the kunai directly under her throat.

"I hope you've said your good-bye to Sasuke before, because you're not going to get a chance to do it now."

* * *

**a/n:** sorry if sasuke's letters seem kind of occ. and i need to work on my gore writing skills :(


	8. Red

Sasuke can hear the chatter of a female voice coming from inside Kakashi's closed office door. Leaning on the wall, in front of the door, he patiently waits for whoever currently holds Kakashi's attention to leave so that he could enter, listen to whatever Kakashi has to tell him and leave to get back to Sakura.

Closing his dark eyes, he imagines how Sakura is probably reacting to his letters. Is a breathtaking smile dancing across her soft lips, or are tears of sadness streaming down her ivory cheeks? Is her heart in pieces at her feet or is it mended by his unconditional love? His eyes snap open when he hears Sakura's name falling out from the lips of the female inside Kakashi's office.

Without any slight hesitation, Sasuke boldly barges into the office, not bothering to knock. He enters the room with cold, hard eyes, but they melt as curiousity takes its place when he finds Ino to be the owner of the voice.

Ino stands in front of Kakashi's organized desk filled with many stacks files and scrolls. Kakashi is on the other end of his desk, sitting with his arms folded at his chest.

All eyes are on Sasuke as he pauses, thinking he probably disturbed some hospital related conversation, but he realizes that Sakura should be there as well if that was the case.

"Where's Sakura," Ino asks, as bold blue eyes leave Sasuke to peer behind him to see if she was there.

"At home. What's going on?"

Ino shares a look with Kakashi, asking him for his approval if she could tell Sasuke about the current situation. Kakashi closes his eyes and nods.

Ino turns her attention back to Sasuke who has moved closer to them during her shared look of confirmation with Kakashi.

"Six months ago, someone by the name of Aka broke into our supply room at the hospital and took small amounts of different types of medicine each month. I found out yesterday and informed Sakura about it. We spent the whole day working out formulas to figure out what it could create and it turns out it's a paralyzer as well as a chakra bound. If someone consumes it, they wouldn't be able to move or use their chakra until it exits their system, and that could take hours or even a day.

"I made an antidote earlier this morning, but Sakura isn't picking up any of my calls, so I assumed she was out with you…"

"She's was probably in the restroom when you called," he causally suggests before turning his attention to his former sensei when he assumes his conversation was over with the blonde due to the thick silence that consumes the room. "What did you want to talk to me about?"

Ino sighs heavily as she isn't finish speaking with the Hokage, and falls defeated into one of the chairs that faces his desk. She adjusts her slender body so that her long legs hang over the armrest.

Ino's body is turned towards Sasuke which inhibits her to see Kakashi eyeing her. A silent question for Sasuke if he wants him to state the reason with Ino there, but Sasuke simply shrugs his shoulders, not caring if she hears.

"I called you here to tell you that your accounts are unfrozen and as of now you have full access to all of them. Also, you're able to move out from Sakura's since you two don't seem to be getting along." Kakashi's voice lowers when he says the last part of his sentence. It pains him to see Sakura filled with sadness as she tries to cover it with strength to show that she was okay. He always knew Sasuke had a soft spot for Sakura, but he never thought he would openly reject her love again after it seemed he had accepted it during his visits to the village.

Ino snickers at his comment and Sasuke eyes her with annoyance.

"Oh, did I miss something?" Kakashi asks. His voice rises slightly with delight as he folds his hands on his desk and leans forward onto them.

"Not much," Ino chirps with a smug grin, "except for the fact that they're back to how they were before he was a complete ass to her."

Kakashi is glad at this moment that he wears a mask so that no one can see the proud smile that graces his lips.

Crossing his arms at his chest, Sasuke narrows his mismatched eyes at Ino. "What makes you think we're back to normal," he interjects, trying to keep their relationship out of their prying hands.

"Please, Sasuke. Sakura tells me _everything,_ so stop trying to keep it a secret when I already know all," Ino confesses as she crosses her right leg over her left, smiling teasingly at him.

Taken a back, Sasuke stares wide eye at Ino as he's never felt so exposed before. He mentally notes to inform Sakura about how much she should share with the nosy blonde. Even if they are best friends, she shouldn't know _everything. _

Sasuke diverts his attention back to Kakashi. "I thought you said it would take roughly two months. It's only been a couple of days; how did it get unfrozen so fast?"

"To be honest, I'm not too sure." Kakashi picks up a sheet of paper from on top the neat stack of files on his desk, and holds it out for Sasuke to take to which he does. "That came in today saying how everything is all clear. You just have to sign at the bottom to verify that you're aware of the current changes."

Sasuke's eyes skims over the paper in his hands and everything seems normal about it. He doesn't quite understand how two months can be reduced to two days so quickly, but he brushes it off. He picks up a pen from Kakashi's desk and signs the sheet, leaving it on the desk before swiftly making his way through the office towards the doors to leave.

"Wait," Ino calls out, standing from her chair and quickly approaches him.

He pauses and turns around watching as she opens the bottle and pours out the contents onto her palm. She picks up two of the pills and pours the rest back into the bottle. Extending her hand towards Sasuke, she tells him that it is the antidote for the paralyzer and for him and Sakura to take it, just in case.

Sasuke accepts the pills and pops one of them into his mouth and swallows it. He slides Sakura's pill into his pocket, offering Ino his thanks before heading out the door, shutting it behind him.

"So, what was this about them being back to normal," Kakashi asks with a cunning smile.

Ino walks back towards the chair, smirking as she lowers herself into it and reveals the juicy details to the Hokage.

* * *

Sasuke has always been searching for a place to call home, not knowing that home is not a place, it's a person, and it's her. Her strong, slender arms tightly wrapped around him are the walls that shelter him from the harsh elements. Her sweet voice is the sound he always wants to hear as it fills and radiates within him, warding off the darkness that still lurks within. Her mesmerizing emerald eyes are the first thing he wants to see in the morning and the last at night.

His heart swells knowing that when he returns she will welcome him back with a loving smile and everything he sees and feels is red as he recalls last night. Red was the colour of her cheeks after the chilly air nipped at it along with his sudden confess. Red was the colour of her swollen lips after their kiss had deepened and as he filled her with his love. Red was the colour of the blanket that he wrapped around them, tugging her closer to him for the need and want of her beside him.

Sasuke also recalls the red of his dreams. The red of younger self's eyes after watching them tauntingly swirl with the need of blood. Red was the colour he saw when he tried to rush to her side to attack his inner demon, being unable to do so. Red was the colour that spilled from her throat, coating his arm and forming a red puddle at his feet. Red was the colour of her shirt that stuck to her body from the blood spilling from her fatal neck wound.

Shaking his head, he tries to erase the thoughts from the merciless nightmares. He ponders if they are supposed to mean something, but his mind flickers back to what Sakura said that morning about it being the fact he found someone to love again after losing everyone before.

A smile makes his way across his face as her apartment is now in view. As the apartment gets closer and closer, Sasuke starts to feel as if something was wrong. His heart accelerates in his chest causing his strides get longer and faster with the desperation to get to her.

Standing at the bottom of the stairs of her apartment, he tries to sense her chakra signature, but he can't pick it up. Instead he slightly feels another's.

Sasuke can swear his heart briefly pauses in his chest as he recalls what Ino told him in Kakashi's office.

_Six months ago…broke into… took small amounts…paralyzer as well as chakra bounds…_

Feeling his blood drain from his face, he realizes that the person who is responsible for the stolen medical supplies is also the person responsible for taking his letters.

Fast like the wind, Sasuke rushes up the stairs in a mad dash as he sprints to her door before kicking it down with a swift kick.

Mismatched eyes falls upon Sakura who is laying down on the couch, her legs decorated with wounds that leak blood. Her tank top acts as a second skin as it sticks her with the help of her blood.

His eyes grow wide with horror and worry at the sight of her. It was just like his nightmares except it's not his younger self who commits these acts, it's _her._

Red is the colour that consumes and blinds him. Red is the colour the boils within his veins and fuels his anger as he watches the woman; all forms of betrayal hidden from his face. Red is the colour of her hair, and her eyes as she watches him with lust.

"Hi, Sasuke," she proudly greets with a smile.

"Karin," Sasuke says with disgust at how far his former team member had fallen. He takes a confident step towards them but she holds the kunai closer to Sakura's neck causing him to stop dead in his tracks.

"Stay where you are, or I'll slit her throat right here and now," she threatens as she waves the kunai mere inches above Sakura's neck as if it was a toy and not a tool used for murder.

Sasuke's lone black orb swirls red as he stares intimately at her. "Put the kunai down and heal her," he growls under his breath. His eyes briefly flicker towards Sakura and he sees how her glassy emerald eyes are on him, and it's only with the subtle movement of the rising and falling of her chest that confirms that she is still alive.

"Do you really think it's wise to tell me what I should do?"

"Do you really think it's wise to provoke me," he counters. "Now talk, _Karin_," he says her name laced with poison which only causes her to grin, "what did you do to Sakura?"

Sasuke knows fully well what she did to her. Karin somehow managed to trick Sakura into drinking the paralyzer, but how and why he is unsure of.

"You see, she's just _so_ easy to fool and you are as well," she says peeling her lust filled glance off of Sasuke and onto the blood clad girl in front of her, twirling a lock of her pink hair around her finger. "I'm surprised you didn't find out that sheet I made about your accounts was fake. I only made it so I could get you out of the apartment so I could taint her tea with my paralyzer."

"Why?" His voice is low and sharp, but it still doesn't faze Karin. Most people would usually comply right away due to fear, but he's not surprised that Karin doesn't. She's always been persistent when it comes to him.

"Why," she echoes sweetly with a raise of her crimson eyebrow as she glance falls back on him. "Why," she coldly repeats, her smile turning into a hard line as her eyes widen with rage. "Because, _Sasuke_, I don't understand why you would want this weak and-"

"You stole from the hospital, drugged and attacked her because you're jealous," he snaps.

Karin's strong demeanour cracks and tumbles to her feet as her eyes fall onto the motionless pinkette. She starts to reply, but doesn't know what to say, so she clamps her mouth shut. Instead she reaches into her back pocket of her shorts and pulls out a vial containing a clear liquid. "Sit against that wall," she orders and flicks of her head towards the wall behind him, "and drink this."

She waits for Sasuke to comply with her demand, but he doesn't move an inch.

"Do what I say or I'll kill her right here." The kunai in her hand connects with Sakura's neck as it glides effortlessly against her soft ivory skin.

"Stop," he calls out and Karin removes the kunai from her skin. Glancing back up at Sasuke she watches him with a grin plastered across her lips, as he backs up towards the wall, and slides down its length until he meets the floor, his mismatch eyes never leaving hers in the process.

Karin tosses the vial towards him and he catches it with ease.

He holds it in his hands and pulls the cork off the top. Bringing it to lips, Sasuke pauses and asks, "what are you planning to do?"

"Something I should have done a long time ago," she answers with a smirk. "Oh, and don't worry once you drink that I wouldn't harm her."

Sasuke knows that she's bluffing, she is going to harm Sakura whether it be physically or mentally.

Knowing that the paralyzer wouldn't have any effect on his body, he tilts the vial and allows the tasteless liquid to glide down his throat. He waits a couple of seconds before he pretends to let his body slump over, his fingers losing their grip on the vial as it lands on the hardwood floor.

At the sight of the rolling vial on the ground, Karin retracts the kunai away from Sakura's neck and places it on the coffee table.

She walks towards Sasuke with confidence as she swings she hips from side to side. Standing before him, she turns her head to the side, looking back at Sakura.

"Ah, good, you can see this right? There's nothing blocking your view," Karin tauntingly asks Sakura when her crimson eyes met with her emerald ones, knowing that she can not speak or move.

Lowering herself down onto his lap, she straddles him and places her left hand on his shoulder and runs her right index finger over his chest, pausing at his heart as she lets the rest of her hand mend against it.

It takes everything in Sasuke not to flinch by her revolting actions as he doesn't want her to know that her paralyzer has not and will not have effect on him. He just needs to wait for the right moment.

From the couch, Sakura has a perfect view of Karin on Sasuke's lap with her hands on him. Her body paints and aches from the many slashes she sustained and her abdomen throbs from the shattered mug that is still imbedded within her flesh.

Sakura recalls how Sasuke willingly drank the paralyzer and decides from that moment, that one of them is going to die, and it's not going to be him.

Karin removes her hand from over his heart when she doesn't feel it quicken under her touch. Pulling back her hand, she makes contact with Sasuke's cheek with a slap that leaves Sasuke's cheek stinging.

"It's always been _her_, hasn't it?" She slightly tilts her head towards Sakura, glaring daggers at her. "How could it be _her_, when you almost killed her! I don't understand!"

She pulls back her right hand again, furious at herself for still holding these feelings for him, furious that he holds feelings for her, and as she brings her hand forward to slap him, Sasuke suddenly grabs her by her wrist with his left hand and grabs his shoulder with his right and pulls her with all the strength he could muster, face first into the wall behind him.

Sasuke scrambles to his feet, reaching into his pocket for the antidote. He's by Sakura's side as Karin fumbles to her feet, covering her nose with her hand. Blood glides down from her nose, onto her cupid's bow and drips to the floor. The wall has a smear of red from where her face connected with it. Her glasses are on the floor, her lens shattered from the sudden impact.

Sasuke leans Sakura's head back so she could swallow the pill, but with her body relaxed, the pill can't be swallowed. He needs water for it to be easily swallowed. He surveys the damage done to her body and concludes if she can swallow the antidote then she can heal herself.

Hearing the moans and heavy breathing from Karin, Sasuke turns his attention back on her and is surprised when he sees that she is charging towards him with a kunai in her hand. Sasuke ponders why he hadn't been able to sense her as he springs to his feet. He quickly grabs the kunai from the coffee table, throwing it with the precision and accuracy that he perfected when he was a child. The knife hits its target, knocking the kunai out of her grasp.

Grabbing her wrist, he pulls her towards him and knees her forcefully in the stomach, knocking the breath out of her. Releasing her wrist, she falls to her knees, gasping for air, but Sasuke pulls his right arm towards him and swings it towards her with such force that as his forearm connects with her neck she goes flying into the blood smeared wall, causing a dent to be made.

Sasuke turns back towards Sakura and falls to his knees. He takes her hand in his and he places the antidote in his mouth. Tilting her head back with his other arm, Sasuke's mouth comes crashing down onto hers as he forces the pill into her mouth and down her throat.

He doesn't notice Karin coming up behind him as she sends a swift kick against his back causing him to crash into the couch. He doesn't have time to recover from her blow as she grabs him by the collar of his shirt and throws him across the room. He lands on the kitchen table, causing it to crumple from the impact of his weight sending him crashing to the ground.

"Do you think I gave you the same paralyzer as her," she confesses as she brings her forearm across her face to wipe away the blood that continues to fall from her nose. "The one I gave her was for simple paralysation and chakra bound, but I made sure the chakra bound in your paralyzer was stronger than hers so it doesn't matter if you took an antidote for the paralyzer I gave her, because you still wouldn't be able to use your chakra."

Sasuke pulls himself to his feet as he sees Karin is holding on of the discarded kunais. His eyes widen and his legs starts to sprint towards her as he sees Karin bringing the kunai down towards Sakura.

Leaping over the couch, he tackles Karin to the ground, but they land on the coffee table and that too comes crashing down to the floor from the impact.

Sasuke turns towards Sakura when he fails to hear the clattering of the blade against the floor, but the damage has already been done. The kunai was aimed perfectly at Sakura's heart.

Sasuke sees red as he watches Sakura's hand comes shakingly up towards her chest, touching the area around the knife and feels her warm blood against her touch. Red consumes his view when the woman on the coffee table groans from the pain. Red is what he feels as he hastily approaches Sakura and holds her in his arms.

Leaving Karin on the ground, he cradles Sakura's body against his chest and bolts through the front door, flying down the stairs. Without the use of his chakra, he runs towards the hospital as his rage and anger dies down as the woman he loves is dying in his arms.

Her emerald eyes slowly search his and every second that passes, they start to dim as her eyes slowly begin to close. He peels his eyes off of her for the sight is too much for him to bear. He can't lose her and he wouldn't, he tells himself as he turns the corner and the hospital comes into view. Sasuke decides that maybe he is currently living in a nightmare, but the pain throughout his body, especially his heart tells him that it is not indeed a dream.

"Sasuke."

He looks back down at her and her glassy emerald eyes are beginning to look empty.

"Shh, it's going to be alright. We're almost at the hospital. Just…stay, stay with me."

Sakura opens her mouth to speak, but all that falls from her mouth is the blood that she painfully coughs up.

Sasuke doesn't see red, or anything. Everything is dark as he loses his light when Sakura's body goes limp in his arms.

* * *

**a/n: **there's going to be one more chapter of this story! it will also answer any unanswered questions, like how karin managed to get into sakura's apartment to drug her and what happens to her

also, sorry if the whole confrontation seemed unbelievable. im pretty sure sasuke can take karin on chakra-less without getting hit, so in my defense sakura is a hostage and hes concerned about her safety :)


	9. Don't Leave

The familiar scent of the disinfectants abuse his nose as Sasuke's empty eyes follow Sakura's lifeless body as the two medics roll her out of the lobby and down the hall. His mind screams at him to go, to follow them, but his body doesn't move at his command nor does it move on its own.

Sasuke has always hated hospitals. It's a place where people come to die or where people cheat Death. He has cheated death many times, knowing that one day he will play his cards wrong and Death will finally have him, holding him in its grasp, victoriously. Sakura has cheated Death many times, but it looks like Death finally held the winning cards.

It should be him, he confesses to himself, it should be him laying lifeless and cold on that bed being rolled away in hopes of being saved. Sakura doesn't deserve that fate. She's too pure, too kind, and too lovingly and he's too dark, too cold, and too heartless. He would trade his life for hers in an instant; his revenge-filled heartbeat for her loving one.

He feels uncomfortable in his skin. Crimson blood stains his hands, running up his arms. His black shirt doesn't show the blood, but he can feel it. He can feel the blood, cool against his warm skin where the rapid beating of his heart has not slowed. Though his heart is beating in his chest, loud and fast, he feels as if he's been stabbed as well.

Well, he had been stabbed. Sasuke's heart beats rapidly in his chest even though he feels dead and numb inside. His heart aches as thumps in his chest like a ticking time bomb, ready to explode at any moment.

The numbness from his body slowly starts to dissipate when he snaps out of his horror-induced trance. An unfamiliar sensation stings his eyes. He blinks, hard and long, and feels a tear rolls down his cheek.

Sasuke's body reacts before his mind could process what he was doing. His long legs sprint down the hall, following the small dots of her blood. The hall splits in two and Sasuke makes a sharp right towards the ICU and continues to run down the hall, his thoughts full of her. As he runs, his tears freely flow from his eyes, blurring his vision.

"Please," he silently begs as he bursts through the double doors that leads into the ICU, "come back to me."

She groans in pain. Her body throbs from the recent beating she received. Glass is embedded in her back from her rough landing and her nose is broken from the face first collision into the wall.

Karin lies alone in Sakura's destroyed apartment. The front door is broken, the white wall smeared with blood, the kitchen and living room table both shattered, and the couch is saturated with Sakura's blood.

Raising a shaking arm to her mouth, Karin bites down onto her arm until she tastes the familiar warm liquid against her tongue. The pain from her body soon subsides and she sits up with ease.

The glass in her back falls to the ground and Karin snaps her nose back in place. Standing, she brushes the glass off her legs and back and watches as it falls to the ground, smudged with her blood.

A collection of beige paper catches her crimson eyes, semi-hidden from the glass. She bends down and picks one of them up. Karin recalls that these were the letters the annoying pinkettte was reading while the paralyzer was taking effect on her body. Curious as to what Sasuke wrote in the letters, Karin opens and reads it.

_Sakura, _

_It appears waiting is a game I've picked up as I wait for the days to fly by so I can be in Konoha again. The days are too long as are the hours and minutes and even seconds. _

_I don't know how you did it. I don't know how you played this game with your hopes held high. What did you do and how did you do it? Waiting is torturous and you've survived this torture, day in and day out, in hopes of my return…back then._

_It's probably different now. You, going on with your life as you've probably retired this game, and me, who has adopted it. _

_Your heart is strong and brave, something my heart never was. It, well I, had lusted for power and you tried to save me with your admirable bravery, but I rejected it. My heart may be removed from some of the darkness that I let consume me, but it is not as strong or brave as yours. Your heart allows you to accept and feel love, while mine has always rejected the idea of love at all costs._

_But my heart will be willing to accept it, only if it's yours._

"What the actual fuck?" The words roll out of her mouth laced with disgust and hate, but not towards the letter, towards the person whom the letter was directed towards.

Rage and fury boils within her being and she crumples the letter in her hand. Her throat contains a scream she wants to rip out, but she bottles it up. She raises to her feet and punches the blood clad couch with her fist containing the letter.

The couch absorbs her punch, and it stamps her hand red. She slowly opens her hand against the couch, allowing the letter to be saturated with her blood.

Her eyes are hooded as she abruptly straightens her posture and swiftly makes her way towards the door. "If you didn't die from the kunai, I'm going to kill you with my own two hands," she quietly vows.

"Sir! Stop!"

Sasuke continues to run, ignoring the nurse's cries. His hyperactive mind is flooded with many questions he desperately needs the answer for. _Will she be okay? Is she okay? Will she make it? _

His mind briefly flickers to Karin and what she's caused, what she stole from him, and he vows as he makes another right turn, following the trail of blood, that he will find her and make her pay for what she's done.

The idea of revenge isn't new to him. Revenge was what he was. The boy whose only purpose to live was to seek revenge. Sasuke knows that revenge wouldn't bring him happiness or make him feel complete like what he previously thought, but he doesn't care. He's never cared for other's opinion on his issues and he sure as hell isn't going to listen to anyone when they tell him not to find Karin and exact sweet, _sweet_ revenge upon her.

The chirp of a thousand birds will be the only thing he hears when he stands before her, knowing that a scream has ripped through her throat. Blue will be what he sees as the glow will radiate from his hand, consuming the red of her until it leaks from her body.

The bloodlust is soon forgotten when he spots Ino outside a room with double doors to which he assumes is the room Sakura's in.

Ino turns her head towards him. Her hair is flat against her face, sticking to it from her tears that she willingly let spill.

Sasuke stops in front of her, his eyes searching desperately in hers for an answer that he needs to hold on to keep him sane, to keep him from falling off the cliff right back into darkness. He doesn't open his mouth to ask how Sakura is because the look reflecting off her eyes speaks for itself.

Baby blue eyes have lost their shine and the joy they once radiated. They're dim and red-rimmed and his probably looks exactly like hers. They hold sadness and sorrow and when she diverts eye contact with him he gets his answer.

She doesn't know.

A heavy sigh escapes his lips and he falls to the ground, defeated, his last shred of hope slowly escaping his grasp, just as he felt Sakura's life leaving her body. He shuts his eyes, cupping them with his palms as he leans his head against the wall. His fingers shake his messy hair as he rubs his palms against his eyes, hoping to erase the images of his reality. But his hope has left him which causes him to see her last moments, vividly.

"They wouldn't let me in."

Sasuke slowly looks up towards the blonde, his hands dropping to his side.

Ino doesn't lock her empty eyes with his as they train on the spot on his shirt that sticks to him knowing that it's her blood that caused that. "They wouldn't let me in to help her," she mutters lowly and tears escape her eyes. She hastly brings her hands up to brush them away, sniffling in the process. "I saw when they wheeled her down the hall, but they say I can't help because I'm too close with her. That it's going to affect my abilities. But, God damn it! I can help save her! I can help bring her back!"

Her voice falters and she lets out an exasperated cry before falling to the ground, her shoulders shaking as she sobs into her hands.

Sasuke doesn't say anything to comfort her or to reassure her that everything is going to be okay, mostly because he doesn't know if everything will be okay.

"It's true that I'm close with her, but it's not going to affect my work! Sakura's like a sister to me and they wouldn't let me help!" Her voice is hoarse, almost a whisper as she curls her legs towards her chest. "I can't lose her," Ino murmurers, "_we_ can't lose her."

His dark mismatch eyes flicker towards the double doors. Ino's words weigh him down, they squeeze at his throat, and stab at his heart. It's his fault she lost the person who thinks of her as a sister; it's his fault they wouldn't allow her to help do what she's best at, and it's his fault that they both lost Sakura.

"It's all my fault."

Sasuke quickly turns his attention back to Ino. Her hands are in her blonde hair, as they grasp at locks of her long, blonde hair, tugging it down. She draws in a deep breath to stop the hiccups that escapes her lips, but they're persistent as they force their way out of her trembling lips.

"It's all my fault," she repeats with a hiccup following afterwards. "If only I had never told her about the missing supplies then maybe she wouldn't be, wouldn't be-"

"No," Sasuke says, speaking the first word since seeing her and diverts his eyes back towards the double doors. "The person wasn't after her because you noticed the supplies were missing." He fills his lungs with a deep breath so it'd be easier for him to confess the rest. "She was after her because of me. I'm the reason that happened to her. I'm the reason Sakura was taken from you."

Ino lifts her glance to him and he can feel it on him. It burns through him, searching for an explanation that she will not find from the darkness that is slowly consuming him.

"Aka was an alias," he explains, his voice a low monotone. "It was Karin, my old team member, who placed her in there." He nods his head towards the double doors, but Ino's eyes are still on him wanting more, needing more. "She was the one who stole from the hospital, and stole the things I sent her, and she's the one who stole Sakura away from us."

Pulling her hands roughly though her silky locks, she holds her hands in front of her and stares at them. A lone strand of gold is tangled around her right hand's ring finger. She doesn't move to shake it off, she just stares at it as if it holds all the answers she needs, but it doesn't.

"It's not your fault, Sasuke."

"Nor is it yours."

Sasuke understands now that it isn't his fault. Loving someone shouldn't be a reason for someone to die. He finally learns that after hearing Ino place all the blame and fault on herself. Ino loves Sakura, and would never want harm to come her way, but yet here she sits on the cold, hard hospital floor blaming herself. Sasuke had been doing that since his nightmares started, he blamed himself if anything were happen Sakura and now that the unimaginable have, he can't help but blame himself, but he now knows better.

Ino raises her glance to him, but his eyes are still locked on the double doors almost as if he that's the only thing keeping him sane; as if they were the only thing keeping him from searching for her and painting the village red with her blood.

"You blamed youself?"

"I did."

He doesn't explain and she doesn't push for an answer. They sit together, in silence, for what seems like hours. The double door suddenly opens sending both Ino and Sasuke scrambling to their feet.

"How is she? Did she-"

The main doctor who Sasuke doesn't recognize holds up his hand, stopping Ino midsentence. He holds in his hands a chart and it takes all the self-control in Sasuke's body to keep himself from lunging at the doctor for the chart.

The doctor scribbles away at the chart, nodding to himself as he does so. He slips his pen into his pocket and looks up into anxious, blue eyes.

"Haruno will be fine. She just needs rest."

Ino's eyes widen as she grabs the doctor's shoulders in her hands, bringing him closer to her. "Are you sure? Sakura didn't succumb to her injuries?"

The doctor shakes his head, brushing her hands off him. "She did briefly, but we managed to get her back. We've healed the injuries she sustained, but her chakra readings are abnormal because the antidote she was given didn't get to run its course before she body succumbed to her injuries. Once it makes its way through her body she'll be perfectly fine. She's asleep right now, so no one can see her, but in a few hours I'll allow her to see visitors."

Ino's eyes wells with tears of joy that spills uncontrollable. She encircles her arms around him, and tugs him towards her. "Thank you, thank you, thank you so much," she exclaims against his chest, in a chant.

He struggles in her grasp to get free and he does when she eventually releases him. She rubs her hand underneath her nose as she sniffles before giving her thanks to him once more. He thanks her and lifts his glance to Sasuke. Sasuke nods, a gesture to show his thanks and gratitude, and the doctor nods back before walking down the hall.

After hearing the news, he automatically feels the weight of dread and disappear leave his body. Hope re-enters sending the darkness that had made his way through him, retreating. He feels lighter, with the anxiety and sadness gone, but he can't forget what she's done.

Sasuke turns away from Ino, towards the direction he ran blindly in, and starts to make his way down the hall."

"Wait! Sasuke!"

He stops when he hears Ino calling him, but he doesn't turn around to face her.

"Where are you going? We'll be able to see her soon," she says from behind him, having jogged towards him.

"I have some unfinished business to take care of." His mind flashes to her and how he knows she's still alive and probably hiding somewhere to finish the job if she finds out Sakura survived.

"Let me at least make you something so you can use your chakra."

"I don't need it," he informs. He takes a step forward, but stops again, turning his head slightly to the right. "Keep an eye on her. I have a feeling she's going to come back if she realizes she didn't die."

Ino nods as she watches Sasuke disappear down the hall.

The warm midday breeze tousles locks of crimson hair as Karin stands on the roof of a nearby building watching the helpless pinkette sleep.

She wonders how she managed to survive the fatal blow, but the thought quickly vanishes when she vows again to finish the job.

Reaching a hand up, she tucks her hair behind her ears deciding when the best time to strike will be. She can't go now for her irritating friend is in the room. She can sense her chakra signature near Sakura's bed. Karin smirks to herself when she realizes Sakura's chakra hasn't returned and plans to attack her tonight so she wouldn't be able to heal herself if she wakes up.

Turning around, she jumps from building to building until she meets the gates of the village. Leaping down, she casually makes her way through the gates, not to alarm the guards, and runs into the thick woods when she could no longer see them. She swiftly makes her way through the woods, dodging any low branches that hang in her way or any roots that are sticking up from the ground.

Karin stops running when she's directly in the middle of the woods and jumps, landing on a branch. She carefully sits and arranges herself so that her back is leaning against the rough truck of the tree. Her left leg lays flat against the branch while she lets her right leg dangle. Crossing her arms at her chest, she pushes her glasses that she managed to grab from her home after hers got destroyed, up the bridge of her nose and closes her eyes.

She recalls the day Sasuke left on his redemption journey and how she had been perched up in a tree watching him say his goodbye to his team. Karin snorted when she saw Sakura blushing when she asked Sasuke what he would do if she asked to take her with him.

A smile spread across her lips as Karin tries to suppress her laughter when she saw Sasuke close his eyes and said that his sins had nothing to do with her. She internally mocked Sakura, but her smile faltered when she saw Sasuke approach her.

Karin's eyes widen as she watched with both shock and horror when his fingers connected with her forehead, poking her. The blush that dusted her cheeks as well as the words that fell out of his mouth were enough to fuel her anger and hatred for the girl who saved her at the Land of Iron.

She was blinded by rage. She never expected Sasuke do something like that to anyone. Especially _her_. He tried to kill her. Many possibilities run through her mind as to why he would do that, but all of them didn't seem as logical as the one that mades her sick to her stomach.

He feels something for this girl.

After months of stalking his pink haired teammate, Karin learned that she's head of the hospital, her best friends are two loud blondes, and she lives by herself. Her life was pretty mundane, she concludes.

The only thing that Karin didn't understand was why she frequently admired the sky every night on her balcony. It was beautiful, that she could agree on, but there had to be a purpose, a reason, she lifted her head upwards every time she was under it.

Karin took pride in the fact that Sasuke hadn't sent Sakura letters or gifts as a sign that she was on his mind. If he really cared about her he would have done those things, she pondered. She thought that Sasuke would return to the village after his journey was over so she hadn't expected to see when he showed up three months after his initial departure. He walked right past her, not acknowledging her presence, which caused her rushed thumping heart to freeze completely in her chest. She turned and watched as he made his way towards _her_ apartment.

Knocking on her door, she watched as it opened to reveal a brightly smiling Sakura who took a step forward, kissing his cheek before she wrapped her arms around his neck in a tight embrace. He snaked his arms around her waist and buried his neck in the crook of her neck, breathing her in.

Karin felt her heart shatter. She watched through glassy eyes as he took a step forward, leading them into her apartment while they were still enwrapped in one another's arms. The door soon closes behind them and Karin could only imagine what was happening behind closed doors.

Were her hands wrapped in his hair while his hands familiarize themselves with the feel of her body? Were they sharing a passionate kiss after a long awaited reunion? Or were they simply sitting down to have tea?

Months come and go, just like how he comes and goes. Karin soon concludes that his visits to Konoha were not solely to report back to the Hokage, but were to see her.

She finally understood why her grass green eyes would be drawn to the sky. Karin was there watching as she was reduced to tears by Sasuke's words. She doesn't hear their confrontation, but she knows it hadn't been what Sakura was hoping to hear flow from his mouth. Their body language says it all: they are no more.

She shut the door after he walked away and she knew that she was probably on the floor crying like the little baby that she will always be.

The next day, she found that Sakura rarely lifted her head towards the sky. If she did she made sure her eyes were shut or she quickly snapped it back down. It was a habit she wished to break, Karin noted. A hawk in the sky caught Karin's scarlet eyes and she recognizes it as Sasuke's. She followed it to Sakura's apartment where she saw it drop something on her balcony before it flew off. Jumping stealthily onto her balcony, she found that it was a letter addressed to Sakura that the bird delivered. She didn't open it for she already know what it held inside. An apology.

She crumpled the letter in her hands and jumped off her balcony, stuffing the cursed paper into her pocket, vowing get rid of her once and for all.

If she can't have him, no one else can.

**a/n:** I lied, the nxt chapter will be the last !

comments:

-to the guest who said "One more chapter? There should be more! Great story by the way! Keep up the great work!"

thank you so much for thinking that :) I actually have another multi-fic planned and im really excited to write it after i complete 'The Last Time'

-to the guess who said "Yay, I saw the potential of this story since the beginning to be a multi-chapter story (too lazy to sign in). It's a beautiful story and can't wait for the ending. Love Karin's character here. Yes she is jealous but she isn't just clingy jealous. She's fiery jealous willing to make damage. Very interesting."

im assuming i already know who you are and i replied back to you :)

-to the gues who said "I love how you wrote this story. Please update the story soon!"

thankk youuu :)))


	10. By Your Side

The warmth and light of the sun are blocked as dark grey clouds maneuver their way through the skies. A light cool breeze brushes over Sasuke as he runs through the streets of Konoha back to Sakura's apartment with high hopes that Karin would still be there. Rushing up the stairs to her apartment, he enters with caution being unable to sense her chakra signature due to the fact his chakra was still bound.

Sasuke finds the living room in the same state it was in after he left with Sakura in his arms, but the only difference is that Karin is no longer laying on top of the shattered coffee table. To be on the same side, he checks the entirety of Sakura's apartment and fails to find her. As he leaves her apartment, something from the couch catches his attention. He picks it up and finds that it is one of the letters he sent Sakura. It is crumbled and bloodly and he doesn't remember it being on the couch when he found Sakura.

Sasuke drops the letter back onto the couch and quickly makes his way out the apartment, realizing that it was Karin who placed the letter on the couch, and it was from that letter that makes him realize that she has no hopes of stopping what she started. He aimlessly runs through the streets of Konoha hoping that she would be walking or even running on them, but he does not find her.

Sasuke recalls that Karin resides in Konoha after the war ended. He concludes that she must be hiding out in her apartment. He takes a couple of long strides forward, but abruptly stops in the middle of the street, looking around in all directions. He didn't know where she lives.

* * *

Standing before Kakashi's office door, he doesn't bother knocking, not caring if he is in the middle of an important meeting as he storms in. Sasuke finds Naruto sitting in with of the chairs with Kakashi still sitting at his desk. Naruto's hands are laced against the back of his head and his legs are crossed as he sits slouched in the chair.

"I need to know where Uzumaki Karin resides."

Both Kakashi and Naruto stare at him, drinking in his appearance and Naruto is the one to voice their question aloud.

"Teme, why are you covered in blood?"

Sasuke causally lifts his hands in front of him and looks down at them. They are still covered in blood and so is his shirt that is now stiff from dried blood.

"It's not mine," he informs both his former sensei and teammate.

"Whose blood is it," Kakashi asks, his voice is stern as he pushes Sasuke for an answer.

"And where's Sakura-chan," Naruto adds.

Sasuke sighs knowing he'll have to explain everything to them before he can get his answer that he needs as soon as possible.

"She's in the hospital. I need the add-"

"Hospital," Naruto shouts as he jumps out of his seat, cutting Sasuke off. "Why is Sakura-chan in the hospital?"

Ignoring his blonde friend, Sasuke glares at Kakashi, repeating his question once more, but more sternly than before. Kakashi doesn't blundge as he also wants to know why his former student is in the hospital. He instead cocks an eyebrow for Sasuke to further explain.

"Karin attacked her, that's why I need the address _as soon as possible_ so I can find her in case she goes after Sakura again," Sasuke calmly explains using every ounce of self-control.

Naruto marches past Sasuke as Kakashi rolls back in his chair, standing to his feet as he makes his way towards a filing cabinet. Sasuke grabs Naruto's wrist prompting him to stop beside him.

"Where are you going?"

"Where else does it look I'm going? I'm going to go to Sakura in case she comes back to finish the job," Naruto growls through clenched teeth.

"Ino is watching over Sakura now," Sasuke informs Naruto, dropping his wrist. "I need you to help me look for Karin instead. It'd be faster this way since you can use the rooftops as a vantage point."

Naruto nods his head, determination and confidence shining through his bold, blue eyes.

Kakashi runs a finger over the files, until he finds Karin's. He pulls it out and shuts the drawer before making his way towards the boys.

"I'll send some Anbu around the village to look for her as well. I just hope she didn't leave the village," Kakashi says, handing Sasuke the file.

"What if she did leave the village," Naruto asks as Sasuke opens her file scanning the information for her address.

"She wouldn't," Sasuke answers as he recalls the crumpled letter on the bloody couch. "She's determine to finish what she started." He finds her address, closes her file and hands it back to Kakashi. Sasuke turns and heads out the door with Naruto following closely behind him.

"So, when are you going to tell me why I can't sense your chakra?"

Sasuke rolls his eyes as they jump down the stairs and turn the corner as he tells Naruto the events of the morning.

* * *

The sun slowly makes its way towards the horizon creating steaks of captivating hues of orange, pink, and purple in the sky as Sasuke and Naruto make their to the hospital. They've searched for hours under the sun's merciless heat for Karin, but came up empty. Even Karin's apartment yielded no signs as to where she may have gone. The Anbus Kakashi sent out to aid in their search for the red head also failed to find her. One of the Anbus, went back to report to Kakashi while the rest continued to search.

Sasuke and Naruto enter the lobby of the hospital, and Sasuke notes how her blood no longer is scattered on the floor creating a trail to the ICU.

The receptionist peers up at the two boys from behind her desk and glances back down towards a chart to her left. Her eyes lazily trail down the paper until they find what they're looking for.

"302," the woman simply says as she diverts her glance back towards her computer, not looking up at the boys.

Naruto gives his thanks with a nod and brief smile before they turn down the hall towards the stairwell and make their way up to her floor in silence.

Naruto places his hand on the door handle, taking a deep breath, preparing himself for the worse, before he turns the handle. He enters the room with Sasuke right behind him and the sight of Sakura laying unconscious on the hospital bed was a new sight for him.

Though Naruto has been on many missions with Sakura with they were twelve, he has never seen her injured to the point where she had to be bedridden in the hospital. His heart grieves inside his chest as his bold blue eyes consume the sight of her.

Pink hair lays scattered around her head, appearing like an halo which makes her look angelic. She's dressed in a pink hospital gown, with a white blanket over her body. Naruto's glad that they at least gave some colour to her besides giving her back the rosy colour of her skin as her blood rushes underneath her skin.

Ino immediately snaps her head towards the door when she hears them enter and stands to her feet, walking towards them, her eyes searching theirs for good news that she finds none.

Both Sasuke and Naruto can see the hope radiating from her eyes, and they both lower their eyes as they can't give her the good news she desperately wants. As their eyes fall to the floor, Ino's eyes also fall to the ground. She turns around, making her way back to the chair she placed beside Sakura's bed, falling into it.

"She has yet to wake up," Ino mutters, her voice filled with sadness as she reaches out and holds Sakura's hand. She caresses the back of her thumb against her best friend's hand as she watches the falling and rising of her chest.

The boys slowly make their way towards Sakura, standing beside Ino. Up close, Naruto can see that she still looks like the Sakura he knows. Her skin still has a red tint to it as well as her cheeks and lips. She would appear as if she was peacefully sleeping if it wasn't for all the bandages that decorates her arms. Naruto wonders how many more bandages blankets her body, and he clenches his fist with rage at what she had to suffer. He grinds his teeth as rage and anger fuels his rapid beating heart.

"Believe it or not she looked worse." Ino's voice is as hollow as her eyes as she recalls the glimpse she first caught of Sakura as the medic wheeled her down the hall. It was just one glimpse, only for a second, but in that second Ino felt herself lose herself. Her heart came crashing in on itself as her eyes widen in horror, tears already forming. Her blood ran cold throughout her body as she became numb from pain and grieve. Her breathing became just as rushed as her heart thumped in her chest. With her mind on autopilot, she forced her body to turn around and sprint down the hall following after the medics with desperations of wanting to help her best friend.

Naruto saunters towards the other side the bed, keeping his eyes on Sakura the entire time. He takes her hand in his and squeezes. "You're one of the strongest people I know, Sakura-chan, and what you did today, well that just proves it." A smile forms against his lips, but fails to meet his eyes. She truly is one of the strong people he knows after everything she's been through. From the endless years away from Sasuke when they were genin, to the traumatizing fact that he tried to kill her twice, to the long six months she had to endure thinking Sasuke never loved her, when he did, to the fact she fought mercilessly with Death and won; this girl laying before him with pastel pink hair is a force to be reckoned with.

Wavering blue eyes trail their way lazily up her bandaged arm and he notices that her bandages were stained deep red. His eyes jump to Ino as he releases Sakura's hand from his touch.

"Why didn't they heal her all the way," he questions, gesturing to her arm where the blood has dried on the bandages.

Ino doesn't lift her eyes to meet his glance as she answers his question. "Usually in situations like these, we only heal the crucial injuries that a patient sustains. We can't heal them all or else the body would forget how to heal after any sort of injury or the process of healing will be longer."

Naruto nods and turns his attention towards his best friend who had not spoken a word since they entered the hospital. He assumes that it's because he couldn't bear to look at her without feeling rage or guilt knowing that Karin was still out there, probably on the run or planning out her next attack. But that's not the reason.

The reason Sasuke is silent is because he's hypnotized by the silent fall and rising of her chest where her heart beats strongly in her chest. With pride and with love it pumps blood throughout her veins, claiming that it shall not be defeated that easily. Love has not destroyed her unwavering heart, and neither shall Death.

He wants to reach out and touch her, feel the warmth underneath his sweaty palms, feel the rush of her pulse underneath his stained fingertips, feel the softness of her body against his, and feel the gentleness of her emerald gaze upon him.

The last time he saw her was when she was in his embrace. Her heart stilled in her chest from the kunai that pierced and caused her blood to still within her veins. She started to become cool in his arms, as his warmth failed to keep her warm. The green of her eyes had lost their usual gleam as they became dim and empty.

Sasuke craves to see her eyes again. Her glance on him, studying him, drinking in every part of him. He wants to see the love reflecting off her eyes and into his. It's only then that he feels whole.

The door to Sakura's hospital room flies open causing Naruto and Ino to lift their blue eyes towards the door, while Sasuke's glance is still transfixed upon Sakura.

"Visiting hours are now over. Please say your good-byes and follow me to the exit. You may visit again tomorrow during the hours of 3 to 8," the nurse states.

Naruto eyes Sakura one more time, silently vowing to come again tomorrow while Ino closes her eyes and sighs heavily, rising from her chair. Ino squeezes Sakura's hand once more before she turns around and walks out of the room with Naruto follows after her. At the door, Naruto turns around and finds that Sasuke is still standing in the same spot, his gaze still locked on her.

"Teme, come on, you heard the nurse, visiting hours are over. We'll come back tomorrow to see Sakura-chan."

Dark mismatched eyes close and he slowly turns around making his way out of the room. The nurse shuts the door behind them when they all exited Sakura's room and escorts them out of the hospital.

As the hospital door shuts behind them, Sasuke stops walking. "I'm staying." Sasuke simply

Both blondes stop and turn around to stare at Sasuke. Ino cocks a perfectly arched, blonde eyebrow while Naruto frowns and crosses his arms at his chest.

"You may not be able to sense their presence, but there's an Anbu that's guarding Sakura," Naruto explains as he nods his head towards the roof of the hospital where the Anbu is located. I know you're just as worried as we are about her, but I promise she'll be fine," Naruto reassures.

"I don't care." Mismatched eyes lock with pale blue eyes in a silent confrontation. Naruto closes his eyes and sighs, dropping his hands to his side, defeated.

"How are you even going to get in? The nurses definitely wouldn't let you. What are you going to do? Climb the walls," Naruto questions.

"Actually, I am."

"But how? You have you can't use your chakra."

"The paralyzer is starting to wear off."

Naruto nods and starts to turn around to leave with Ino, but Sasuke calls out to Ino causing both of them to pause in their steps again.

"What is it, Sasuke? If you want the antidote to use to get back your chakra, you're out of luck, because it'd take me a while to create, especially with the components she-"

"No, it's not that. I need your help with something," Sasuke says, cutting her off mid-sentence. "Actually, I need both or your help."

* * *

The climb to Sakura's room window had been quick and as he summoned all the chakra that emerged from his body into his feet and sprinted up the side of the building. He slips into her room window, shutting it behind him. He takes a step towards her and the way the moonlight shines into the room illuminating her was magical.

Her skin glows from the moonlight. Her hair appears to be a lighter shade of pink which surprisingly suits her well. He makes his way around the bed and towards the chair Ino was sitting in. Sitting in the chair, he slowly reaches for her hand. He lightly brushes his fingers over hers before he intertwines their fingers. He brings their interlocked hands towards his lips, brushing his lips against her hand before placing a fleeting kiss on it.

"I'll be right here beside you," he murmurs against her hand.

* * *

_The sweet aroma of crisp apples wakes her from her slumber as her pastel pink eyelashes flutter open to reveal emerald eyes. The room she's in is dark, but the window to her right illuminates the room. Beside the window is a table that is positioned right next to her bed with a plate of sliced apples on them. They have been neatly pealed, but some are adorned with bits of red from its skin. _

_Sakura ponders who could have done that for her, and her mind briefly flickers to a dark haired man with equally dark eyes, but the thought evaporates from her mind when she dismisses it because he would never do something like that for her. She struggles to sit up as her body still aches and pains with every muscle she tries to move. _

_"__Aa, you're awake."_

_Sakura freezes as the familiarity of his voice saturates into her skin, causing her heart to flutter in her chest. Butterflies are in her stomach as she doesn't know what to say or what to do, because she's afraid that it's all just too good to be true. _

_She feels the warmth of his callused hand brushing away locks of pink tresses from her face, pushing it behind her ear. Daringly, she turns her head towards him, but before she turns all the way, she feels something sharp and cold pass right through her body, entering through her back and exiting through her chest. _

_Her breath is knocked out of her as she lowly gasps and places her hand in the area where she feels the weight. Her callosed hand is greeted with warm liquid from the exit wound and she tastes it in her mouth as it travels up her throat._

_She shakenly shifts her glance downwards and sees the blade of a sword sticking out of her chest. It is coated with blood, but at the very tip she sees the symbol that ultimately stops her heart from beating. _

_The Uchiha symbol._

_The blade twists abruptly in her chest causing her to wince in pain. A low cry escapes her lips and her eyes well with tears that never falls. She falls onto her bed as her eyes shut and everything goes black._

* * *

A gasp falls from her lips as her eyes fly open. Her breathing comes out short and rushed, and her heart thumps violently in her chest as she desperately tries to bring them back to its normal pace. Her eyes register that she is in a room similar to the one of her nightmare, with the window to the right of her and the table beside her bed. Emerald eyes take in the absent sliced apples and she's not sure if she's happy or sadden by this fact. Her eyes then fall on the window that shows the full moon, bright in the night sky.

Sakura closes her eyes as she tries to recall what happened, but her mind is foggy and all she remembers is blood, pain, and being in his arms for what seemed like that last time.

"Sakura," she hears a familiar voice call out to her. "Are you okay? Does anywhere hurt?"

Eyes slowly open as she screams at herself to take deep breaths in and out. The voice is the same as the one in her dream, but this time it is filled to the rim with worry. She cautiously turns her head towards the voice, expecting something to pierce her chest again, but it never happens. No sword protrudes from her chest.

Emerald eyes lock with mismatched eyes. His gaze bores into her, enlightening a spark that dances across her being. She tightly shuts her eyes, thinking this is only a dream and when she opens her eyes again he would no longer be there. Green orbs are visible again as pink eyelashes flutter open and she is still greeted with dark mismatched eyes.

"Sasuke," she crooks as her eyes soften from his glance.

Her voice is hoarse in her throat which causes Sasuke to squeeze her hand. "Hn. How are you feeling?"

Sakura had not noticed that their fingers were laced and she tries to squeeze back his hand to reassure him that she is okay, but her hand lacks strength. Instead she strokes her thumb over his hand. "I'm okay. Just I feel sore and my mind is foggy." Sakura notices that her arms are covered in tight bandages and she feels the same pressure against her legs.

"Go back to sleep," he softly murmurs, "I'll be right here."

"You wouldn't leave?"

"No."

Sakura nods as a bright smile makes its way across her life. Releasing his hand, she rolls over onto her side, diverting her glance towards the moon. She closes her eyes as the need for sleep grows heavy on her eyelids.

Sakura feels the bed dip and an arm drapes over her waist. Her eyes snap open and she finds that Sasuke's hand found her right hand and intertwines their fingers again. The warmth of his chest passes through her thin hospital gown as she feels it radiating against her back. Lifting her head off the bed to look behind her, Sasuke uses the opportunity to place his arm against her pillow so she could rest her head against his arm instead.

"What are you-"

"Shh," he murmurs against her ear, sending shivers up and down her spine. He tugs her closer to him and she relaxes her body against his.

"She's not going to come, is she?" Her voice low in her throat, but it is far from calm. She tries to mask her concern for him in her voice, but she fails horribly as Sasuke can see right through it.

Sasuke wishes he could give her the answer she desperately wants to hear, but he can't because he himself isn't too sure. "If she does, I promise she wouldn't hurt you," he reassures as his lips lightly brush against the back of her neck.

"What about you? I don't want her hurting you again." The memory of the red-head on Sasuke's lap, her hand running up and down his chest causes bile to burn at her throat.

"She wouldn't be able to hurt me either." Sasuke squeezes her hand again and lightly kisses the back of her neck. "Now close your eyes; you need to rest." Sakura complies letting the heaviness of her sleepy eyes lids consume her.

* * *

With the moon shining brightly overhead, Karin makes her move. She masks her chakra as she runs through the dense forest as fast as her two legs could take her. The wind rips through her hair and she dodges over roots and ducks under branches effortlessly. Knowing that she killed or attempted to kill one of the most beloved kunoichis of the village, she aware that Anbus were probably searching the village looking for her.

Karin doesn't know if the pinkette survived the blow she inflected upon her. Was it a fatal blow or did she miraculously survive, were all questions Karin needed to know to be satisfied. It's not only the satisfaction of knowing that she got rid of Sakura, but the satisfaction of knowing that she got rid of _the_ Haruno Sakura. The girl who trained and surpassed the legendary sannin Senju Tsunade; the girl with the fist that can demolish anything in its wake, and most importantly the girl that is Sasuke's greatest weakness.

Karin smiles pleasingly to herself, glad that she didn't end up loving Sasuke, since she thinks that love makes you weak and weakness is something she refuses to have. Sakura's weakness was her love for Sasuke that made her unable to detect her presence and the tea that she tainted. Maybe, if she didn't love Sasuke and let her emotions for him run wild she would have been able to detect her, but she quickly brushes that idea off because no way a pink haired, cry baby can ever be stronger than her.

Coming face to face with the village's high wall, she quickly detects if any chakra signatures were around her vicinity. Not being able to sense anything, she quickly sends small amounts of her chakra to her feet as she swiftly scales the wall with ease.

Leaping down from the towering wall, she sticks to the shadows of the street, keeping out of the telltale light of the moon and the streetlights as she cautiously making her way towards the hospital.

* * *

Sasuke watches as the moon travels gracefully across the night sky. It glows bright and strong with no clouds in the sky to block its beauty. Sakura had fallen asleep in his arms and he hopes that her dreams are as beautiful as she is. He recalls the way Sakura abruptly gasps into consciousness, her breathing coming in quick burst and he bet her heartrate was just the same. He muses what she had to experience in her dream to cause her to awake so suddenly. This girl has seen and done so much so he knows that an ordinary nightmare could not have that extent of an effect on her.

During the course of the night his chakra returns to him, little by little, but it is still not nearly half of his full chakra. He is able to sense chakra signatures, concentrating mostly on the Anbu on the roof and to feel for any strange signatures that might approach them.

He glances down towards the sleeping girl in his arms and he's grateful that she survived. He wan't sure what he would have done without her. Seeing his family, dead, at his brother's feet as a child was enough to send him swirling out of control with the idea of revenge controlling his every move and thought. But now that he's been set free from revenge's strong clutches he knows that it would have reclaimed him again when he would have went to seek out Karin and put an end to her if he were to lose Sakura.

He is brought out of his thoughts when the Anbu's chakra signature suddenly feel different. Before it was strong, but at the same time dim, being hardly noticeable, but now it's weaker and coming in short bursts. The signature saunters towards the edge of the building and descends the building to the left of the window. Sasuke slowly peels himself away from Sakura, getting out of bed and walk towards the edge of the window, hiding in the shadows.

* * *

Karin finds a lone Anbu at the top of the hospital roof. She reaches down towards her leg and pulls out a senbon that she dipped in a normal paralyzer. She jumps from the building she was on onto the hospital's roof, throwing the senbon at the Anbu as he turned around when he sensed her, hitting him directly in his neck. The paralyzer wastes no time taking effect on him, as he tumbles to the ground with Karin landing right beside his body. Karin tries her best to keep her chakra level the same as the Anbu's so she doesn't bring suspicion unto herself. She slowly makes her way towards the edge of the building and summons light bursts of chakra to her feet, making her way down the building.

Knowing that Sakura would be kept on the third floor, which is the floor where all patients that come out of ICU are placed. She knows for a fact that Sakura did indeed survive the attack mainly because of the Anbu guarding the hospital towards a certain edge, instead of standing in the middle of it.

Reaching the third floor window, she peers in and finds the sleep pinkette on her side facing the window. Karin smirks to herself when she finds the room to be empty from anyone inside as she slowly opens the window and slips inside.

When her feet hits the floor she quickly produces a tainted senbon from her left sleeve and stabs it into the arm of the man who grabs her right wrist.

He immediately falls to the floor, not able to move his arms or legs. He peers at her through mismatched eyes that fails to show the intimation and anger he feels running through his body.

"Do you honestly think I would be stupid enough to think that you left the stubborn pink head alone?" She watches as Sasuke continues to stare at her with the same gaze as he screams at his body to move, but it doesn't. "I came prepared this time and I'm not going to take any risks. I'm going to torture her right before your eyes, bring her close to the point of death, but I'm going to make sure there's still some life in her as she watches me do the same thing to you. Then you guys can watch each other, helplessly, to see which one dies first."

She reaches down towards her leg and produces a kunai. She lightly trails her finger across the blade of the knife, and leans down towards him. "Maybe I should roughen you up a bit before I wake her up, so she could be awaken to such a horrendous sight."

Leaning down lower towards him, she trails the kunai against the side of his face causing a thin line of blood emerging from his cheek. "I think that's a great idea," Karin exclaims as she pulls the kunai away from his face and points it towards his chest. "And this will be the last place I'll hit," she taunts, hovering the kunai above his chest as she draws the letter 'x'. "X marks the spot," she chimes with a broad smile.

Karin brings the knife down to mark her spot, but as the kunai makes contact with his black shirt she is tackled to the ground with someone on top of her, pinning her down.

Crimson eyes fall upon her attacker and it's the last person she expected to see.

"What? How? How is this possible?" She questions breathlessly as she wriggles out from under her attacker's weight and pushes them off, sending them flying a couple of feet away from her, landing on their feet.

Her attacker smirks as she watches her from behind emerald eyes like a predator watching her prey. "You underestimated what I'm capable of," she answers as she keeps her eyes locked on Karin.

Karin watches the pinkette with strong distaste as she narrows her eyes at her. She should have still been in bed, asleep, or even if she was wake she shouldn't be able to move with such grace without her body screaming at her or without her knowing.

"I had a feeling you were going to come finish the job and since the antidote was given to me before my heart stopped, it was able to break away at the bounds you had on my chakra. When I first awoke, most of my chakra had returned and now I have a bit more which I used to heal my injuries," Sakura explains as she unwraps the bandages from around her arms to show that they were scar free. The bandages pool at her feet, stained with blood, and there shows to be no wounds on her, as if she was never injured in the first place.

Karin grinds her teeth and clenches her jaw as she gets up off the floor. This was not how her plan was supposed to go. She was supposed to wake Sakura and then quickly paralyze her before she got to have her fun, not engage in hand to hand combat with her. Karin goes over the possible outcomes for their potential battle and notes that they do not look promising for her. Glancing around the room she looks for something that she can use to aid her, and her eyes fall on a paralyzed Sasuke.

She suppresses the smirk she wants to display on her face as she recalls that their greatness weakness is each other. Without warning Karin makes a dash towards Sasuke to use him as a hostage, but Sakura already saw what her aim was. Sakura swiftly moves the couple of feet that separates her from Sasuke and stands in front of him.

Being paralyzed, all Sasuke could see is the bed from the floor, empty. Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw how Sakura healed herself as Karin was exuding confidence as she openly revealed her plan to him, not knowing that Sakura was conscious. Karin's cockiness blinded her from sensing Sakura. He watched as she rose from her bed and tackled Karin to the ground before she could mark his skin with her kunai.

All Sasuke can hear is the chatter of women, and their movements, but he can't see them. He isn't worried for Sakura since he knows that she is more than capable to handle the current situation; he just hopes that her body doesn't succumb from all the stress she had to carry throughout the day.

Sakura stands before Sasuke, causing Karin to freeze in her dash. She quickly backs up which causes Sakura to charge at her, her fist aimed for Karin's jaw.

Karin quickly dodges the punch, but is met with a knee to her stomach, knocking the wind out of her. Recovering just in time, Karin shifts to the right before Sakura's fist makes contact with her face.

Reaching towards her leg, she produces a kunai and throws it while her eyes are locked with emerald, making Sakura believe that the kunai was meant for her when it was meant for Sasuke. The kunai flies to the left of Sakura, but moves quickly, catching it on its trajectory. She quickly spins the kunai around in her fingers and throws it at Karin, hitting her on her right leg's upper thigh.

As Karin whined from pain, Sakura is quick like the wind as she charges towards Karin. Using her right hand she grasps the kunai and pushes it deeper into her leg, while her left leg kicks Karin's feet out from under her, sending them both crashing to the ground.

Karin lands on her back with Sakura on top of her. Sakura quickly grabs Karin's left wrist in her right hand and her right wrist in her left hand and twists it counter clockwise dislocating her wrists from their sockets. The red head screams out in pain as Sakura looms over her.

"How?" Karin angrily yells, her crimson eyes welling with tears. "Love is supposed to make you weak! Look what it did to you and him! The tables are supposed to be turned!"

Sakura lowers her eyes feeling remorse for Karin as she's never whole heartily loved someone so she doesn't know the truth for what love is supposed to do.

"Love doesn't make you weak. Love makes you stronger; it gives you a purpose to live and carry on, to endure and become stronger to protect those you love."

Sasuke can hear Sakura's explanation and the images of his family flashes before in his mind as they were the reason he became stronger. He blamed himself, as a child, that he was too weak and defenceless to protect his clan, so he worked every day to become stronger, to become faster, with the purpose to avenge them.

"Love is not supposed to be a weakness even if you do happen to love too much. Love is supposed to be the fuel of determination and power."

Karin stares at Sakura in wide eye awe. She always thought of love as a curse, a weakness, not a source of admirable determination and strength.

The door to the hospital flies open, and two Anbus enter the room. They don't explain why or how they knew something was wrong since they weren't in the building, but Sakura assumes it's because they found the paralyzed Anbu on the roof. They walk towards Sakura, grabbing Karin by her elbows before Sakura got off her. They place chakra bounds around her wrists and walks towards the doors with her.

"Wait," Sakura cries out, which causes the Anbus to comply, but they don't turn around to face her. "Let a nurse heal her leg and wrists before you lock her up."

They don't say anything, but the Anbu holding Karin's left arm nods and exits the room.

Sakura rushes to Sasuke's side, falling to her knees. She pulls the senbon out of his wrist and her hand briefly glows green as she heals the small puncture.

She rearranges his body properly so that he's laying on the ground and she places her hands above his chest, as they glow green again. Her chakra enters his body and wraps itself around the paralyzer that attached themselves to his cells. With the steady flow of chakra, Sakura releases through her hands, the chakra works away at the paralyzer breaking it down until it was no more.

With Sasuke's body free from the paralyzer, he sits up, just as Sakura loses consciousness. She starts to fall, but Sasuke catches her before she hits the ground. Wrapping her in his arms, he stands and makes his way towards the bed. He gently lays her down, tucking her in before he makes his way to the chair to get some sleep since the threat has been taken care of.

* * *

Sakura awakes to white ceilings, and sunlight beating down on her body. The curtains are pulled so that it was blocking her face, but small sliver of lights makes its way through. Her room is quiet, free from any noise and visitors. Her mind is fuzzy and her body is heavy just like her eyelids with the need for more sleep.

The table beside her bed is filled with flowers of all red, white, pink and purple, and there's several "Get Well Soon" cards that litter the table as well as one balloon that fails to stay in one place on the ceiling.

Sakura hears the chatter of voices making their way towards the room and the door soon opens afterwards to reveal Ino and Naruto.

The loud blondes stop mid-sentence when their eyes land upon Sakura's green eyes.

"Oh my god, Forehead, you're finally awake! How do you feel?" She makes her way towards the bed, pulling out her chart from the foot of the bed.

"My head's fuzzy and my body is heavy," she confesses. "How long have I been out?"

"Your head is fuzzy and body is heavy probably because you've been out for three days now," Ino answers as she scribbles away at the chart.

Naruto walks up to the bed and grins brightly. "You slept longer than I ever have." Naruto chuckles which causes Sakura to smile.

"Are you sure about that," Sakura says as she sits up, "because if I recall correctly you were once knocked out for a week." Sakura wears a proud smirk as she crosses her arms at her chest, tilting her head to the side. Naruto's smile falls off his face as he points a finger at Sakura, stuttering to find a perfect comeback, but none comes to him.

"Where's Sasuke," Sakura asks as she looks around the room. She lifts her eyes to Naruto and then to Ino and sees that they share a look before both pair of blue eyes land on her. "Was there something mixed with the paralyzer?" She chokes out, her voice low almost breathless as she imagines his pale lifeless body probably already six feet under with his family.

"No, no, no, Forehead," Ino says, resisting to release a chuckle that is at the tip of her lips. "He had to run an errand and I promise he'll come see you later today." She flashes her a smile that doesn't hide any ulterior meaning behind it. She places the chart back at the foot of the bed, and saunters over to the chair, falling into it.

Naruto stands at the foot of her bed, as he sees Sakura is not assuredly convinced by Ino's words. "He went to Karin's trial. It should be over any time now, and I know for a fact that he'll come here right after," Naruto elaborates to reassure his friend.

Sakura looks at him and nods while a smile dances across her face.

"So, when will I be released?" She diverts her attention towards Ino who is sitting with her legs crossed as her right leg bounces up and down, in a steady rhythm on her left leg.

"I'll say you could be released tomorrow morning or even later tonight."

"How about tonight?" Sakura urges as she smiles brightly at Ino to convince her. She claps her hands together, lacing her fingers and bats her eyelashes at her.

Ino giggles and rolls her eyes saying, "Okay, fine. Tonight."

* * *

The sun dips towards the horizon, painting the sky with hues of warm shades. Sasuke makes his way towards the hospital. He had told Naruto and Ino that he would go straight to the hospital after Karin's trail, but instead he made a detour that devoured majority of his time.

Sasuke stops dead in his tracks when he sees Sakura walking in his direction with Ino and Naruto by her side. He sees how the two blondes share worried looks as they tug on her arms to get her to stop, but Sakura is too persistent as she brushes off their arms and continues forward.

Sasuke's eyes widen when he realizes the direction that Sakura is heading in, and he picks up his pace to a jog to meet up with them.

Sakura starts to turn into the street to her left to head home, but hears a voice that isn't Ino's or Naruto's. Sakura stops as well as the two blondes and lifts her head towards the direction of the voice and sees Sasuke jogging towards her.

"Sasuke?" She says with shock since that was the first time she saw him in a long time.

"You got released today?"

"Yeah," she trails on, "I just got discharged, actually and I'm on my way home."

She walks past him as she turns down the street, leaving them.

"Sakura, wait," Sasuke calls after her, but she still continues to walk away from him, prompting him to follow after her.

"Should we follow after them," Naruto asks Ino as he scratches the back of his head.

"Of course not," she exclaims as she narrows her eyes at him. "We'll see them tomorrow." Ino continues walking straight down the path leaving Naruto to watch as his ex-teammates disappear down the road.

"I hope you'll love what he's done, Sakura-chan," Naruto whispers, as he turns and makes his way home.

* * *

"Wait, Sakura, please," Sasuke pleads as Sakura stubbornly continues down the empty road. He thinks that she's mad at him because he failed to come visit her when he promised that he would, and he knew that Ino or Naruto had told her that he was planning to as well.

"Whatever it is can you tell me when we get home? I'm tired, I just want to collapse on my bed and sleep for the reminder of the week."

"I can't tell you, I have to show you." This captures Sakura's attention, causing her to stop in the middle of the street, turning around to face him.

"Show me what?"

"Come with me, it'd be easier if you see it with your own eyes." He stretches out his hand towards her. Sakura looks between him and his hand, an inner debate going on in her mind, if she should go with him or let him show her tomorrow.

She slowly stretches out her hand towards his, accepting it. He interlocks their fingers as they walk side by side back up the street in the direction that Ino and Naruto went in.

"Where are we going?" Sakura asks and a yawn escapes her lips.

"You'll see," he says with a smile.

They walk together in silence, for a few minutes until Sasuke stops in front of an apartment complex, causing Sakura to stop as well. The apartment is similar in design to hers, with only four floor like Sakura's apartment, but it's bigger, fancier, and pricey. This was one of the few apartments Sakura visited when she was apartment hunting. She fell completely in love with the floor design of the apartment, but the price had chased her away. Now she stands baffled, hand in hand with Sasuke in front of the building.

"What are we doing here? Are we visiting someone or did you forget something here?"

He walks towards the stairs, climbing them with her directly behind him. He exits off at the second last floor and stops before the door that reads '306.'

Puzzled, Sakura frowns and cocks a pink eyebrow. This causes a chuckle to escape past Sasuke's lips as he releases her hand. Reaching into his pocket, he pulls out a key and holds it out towards her.

Sakura takes the keys, and surveys them in her hands. It's a single silver key, and Sakura looks up at Sasuke with curious emerald eyes.

Nodding his head towards the door, he takes a step back for her to open it.

Taking a step forward, she places the key in the lock and turns it, hearing the gears turning. Sakura pulls the key out from the lock and twists the doorknob, opening the door.

Sasuke takes a step inside and flicks on the lights with the switch by the door. He turns around when he finds Sakura has not moved from her spot, so he takes her hand, lightly tugging on it, urging her to follow him, and she does.

Inside Sakura sees that the walls are painted an off-white colour. Boxes are stacked along the sides of the wall in front of her, as a light beige couch, with hints of yellow is placed besides the boxes.

"What is this," she asks in awe. The apartment is even prettier than she remembers. The room looks bigger as well as the kitchen that is to the right of her. The hallway in front of her opens up to reveal three doors, instead of the two she has in her apartment.

Sasuke takes a step inside and pulls her along with him. "This," he says turning around to meet her eyes as he stops in the middle of the living room, "is our new apartment."

Sakura's eyes widen and her mouth falls to the floor in complete and utter shock. "What do you mean this is _our_ apartment," she exclaims throwing her hands up in the air. The word our is Sakura's new favourite word that she wants to hear Sasuke say over and over again as it has the power to ignite sparks inside of her.

"It means that is this our apartment," he says with a smile. "I didn't want you returning to your old apartment, so I got Naruto and Ino to help me find a reasonable place for us and to help me pack your things into boxes to move here." Her old place was a mess of broken furniture, and blood splattered. Sasuke didn't want Sakura returning to a place that would hold unwanted memories so he asked Naruto and Ino the night Sakura was admitted into the hospital to help him find a place.

Ino had remembered that Sakura told her that this was her dream apartment, and just to their luck there was a room selling, that was ready for moving in at any time.

"But we can't afford this, especially with your accounts still frozen," Sasuke hisses, her voice filled with shock.

"Actually we can. Though my accounts are still frozen, I managed to take a loan from the accounts to buy it. Plus, in the next week or so my accounts should be ready for me to access so there should be no problem there."

"But, this place is so big! What are we going to do with the extra rooms if we're going to share one." Sakura freezes when she realizes what she implied. She blushes as bright as a tomato as she diverts her glance to the ground, too embarrassed to look Sasuke in the eyes.

Taking a step forward, Sasuke encircles Sakura in his embrace. "In case."

Sakura frowns in his embrace, not understanding what he meant. "In case, what?"

"In case, someone decides to join us."

Sakura leans away from his chest and looks into his eyes for an answer, but she doesn't find any. "Like a sleepover," Sakura suggests.

"Kind of like a sleepover, but a permanent one."

"As much as I like Naruto, he is not going to live with us," Sakura says coldly, which only causes Sasuke to shake his head.

"No, not Naruto. We'll get to see them love and adore them as they grow before our eyes," he hints.

"A pet? But why would a pet need its own room?"

Sasuke sighs with frustration as he can tell that Sakura has no clue what he meant, even with all the hints.

"In case, we have a child or children one day, Sakura," he says bluntly, a blush creeping its way onto his cheeks. "Not now of course, but one day."

Red slowly starts to consume the apples of her cheeks which causes her to lean her head against Sasuke's chest. "One day," she agrees, lowly but with happiness exuding from her voice as she imagines the pitter-patter of a small child with equally dark raven hair and eyes just like Sasuke's.

"Any other problem you have with the apartment?"

"No," she says, shaking her head against her head. "Everything is perfect." She leans away from his chest, meeting his eyes and smiles. She stands on the tip of her toes to kiss his cheek, but he quickly turns his lips towards her, kissing her.

He tightens his hold around her lower back, and Sakura wraps her arms around his neck, pulling him down towards her. The kiss deepens which causes Sakura to laces her fingers through his soft, obsidian hair and Sasuke to pull Sakura closer to his body.

Sakura is the first to pull away, breathless, as she tries to catch her breath. She presses her forehead against his, her eyes focused on his lips.

"I don't want to lose you," Sakura confesses as she closes her eyes. "During the last couple of days so many things happened which made me realize that life isn't promised to last forever. But this, _us_, I don't know if it's selfish for me to admit this, but I want _this_ to last forever."

"You're not going to lose me."

"Nor will you lose me," she answers his unspoken question. "You saw what I did in the past couple of days, nothing can take me away. Not jealously, not Death, not anything. Nothing is strong enough to break the love that connects me to you. Nothing can take me away from you, _nothing_."

"Thank you," he murmurs against her neck, trailing soft kisses against her neck.

"There will never be a last time when I'm with you," she vows.

"No," he disagrees. "There has to be a last time."

Sakura's eyes widen as she pulls away from Sasuke to look into his eyes, but she discovers that they are shut. "What do you-"

"When I saw you motionless with the inability to move your body, I want that to be the last time. When I saw the kunai in your chest, and as I watched the life disappear from your body, I want that to also be the last time. When I was defenseless to help you fight her, even when I knew you were more than capable to handle her, I want that to be a last time, because like you said, love gives one a purpose to live and carry on, to endure and become stronger to protect those they love, and Sakura you are the reason I want to use my strength against those that attack you or me, because you love me and I want to protect you because you've given me a reason to value my life, because it's not only mine, it's something I share with you."

When Sasuke fails to hear a reply from Sakura, he opens his mismatched eyes and finds that her eyes have widen and her mouth is agape.

Sasuke stole the words from her leaving her speechless. She buries her head back against his chest listening to the beat of his heart.

"Sasuke?"

"Hm?"

"I don't want what you said to me when I found your letters to be the last time either."

"That will never be the last time I tell you 'I love you', Sakura." He kisses the crown of her head as she snakes her arms around his waist, her heart beating with a rush of emotions inside her chest.

"I love you too, Sasuke."

a/n: can you believe that it's over!? because i can't. it feels so bittersweet :( when i usually read multi-fics the ending usually doesnt appeal to me bc it's rushed or sometimes its forced. when i read this chapter today there was a bit too much going in on it, but thats my fault lol i hope this chapter lived up to your expectations ! :) thank you for following me on this wonderful journey and i hope you'll join me on with my next multi-chapter fic, Enchanted. If you liked the surprises and mystery that 'The Last Time' had to offer you'll love this one! :) thank you so much! i feel like i can never not saying thank you (idk why its not being linked here, but it's on my profile if you're interested!)

replies to reviews:

guest: i'm so glad it's captured your attention and makes you want to know what happens next! I think i love writing mysteries/plot twists :)

guest: yesssss, i'm going to miss updating for this fic as well ): it's so sad to see it come to a close after two long months D: but im super stoked about Enchanted ;D i've got it all planned out

to whomever the guest is who commented with "you break my heart in a blink of an eye~~" i know you'll probably never see this but i cant believe you commented with lyrics from the song that inspired this series, and i just got so excited for some reason lol ftw


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